The Lost Prophecy
by Caitey
Summary: The Lost Prophecy is set 5 years after The Heroes of Olympus, in Camp Half-Blood, with a new cast of characters. All her life, Lily Rose never knew she was a demigod. When she does find out, however, she dicovers that she is in the center of something that can change the world. A prophecy. Nightmares. A quest. Lily Rose must face it all-or else. Reviews & follows, please! :)
1. The Past Catches Up

**Chapter One**

_**"The Past Catches Up"**_

You know what?

Being a half-blood isn't what it's all cracked up to be.

I mean, sure, you go on quests. You go on adventures. You battle monsters. All mystical, mysterious fun.

But that, all that, comes with a price.

My name is Lily Rose, and I didn't even know that I was a half-blood, if it weren't for that thing at school that kick-started a chain of events that led to the discovery of my past, my true bloodline.

I live in the suburbs of New York—Westchester. I go to a private school, and stuff.

We live in a mansion—I guess you would call it that—just nearby. And by we, I mean me, Nana, my dad (though he seems to spend more time at work than at home), and the maids.

Nana is my father's mother. She practically raised me. Whenever I asked her why I was named Lily Rose, all she'd do was shrug and say, "Because your mother willed it."

Nana was the one who told me about flowers.

They grow in the gigantic greenhouse in my house, side by side. We have tall towering ones in bold shades of red and purple, as well as tiny cream-coloured buds.

And I love flowers.

I love them. I really do. I love all flowers. Actually, I love all plants, but mostly I love flowers.

For some strange reason, no plant has ever shrivelled under my touch. All plants seem to thrive under my green thumb.

Whenever Nana saw this, she would smile. "Just like your mother," she'd say. "That was what brought her and your father together. When she...was not here anymore, he had this greenhouse constructed just for her, in her memory."

And whenever Nana said this, I would smile and nod. Pretend that I think that my dad is kind and loving. Because he's not. To me, he is not my dad. He is Archibald Waldorf and he is a ruthless businessman. He barely talks to me.

But whenever I brought up my father's niceness, or lack of niceness, Nana would shake her head and say, "He just misses your mother. You look so much like her."

And I guess I do.

Nana may be old, but she is still beautiful. Her hair is still blond and her eyes are still blue-gray, like a cloudy sky.

But I look nothing like her, or my father. I have long, wavy hair that's brown, like freshly turned soil, that reaches the middle of my back. My skin isn't tanned like my father's, it's pale and snowy white. Plus, my eyes are green. Not sea green or blue-green, but green like a plant's gently furled leaf.

Nana always remarked how beautiful I was and how much I resembled my mother. "She was a goddess," she'd say. And then she'd marvel at my apparent gift of being able to memorize almost all the flowers of the world, including their characteristics and their scientific names.

"Your mother would be proud," Nana would say.

But Archibald Waldorf did not treat me like how Nana treated me. He treated me like a pet. A pet he sent to private school every day.

And I guess Nana sensed this. It was pretty obvious that he kind of resented me, especially since he had a string of girlfriends and stuff.

When I was younger, to comfort me she'd tell stories of Greek mythology. At night, I would lay in bed and know that I was a half-blood, who battled battles. I didn't know how right I would be.

* * *

I had just slid my lunch tray beside Mark's, my best friend. (Mark, just in case you're wondering, is mortal).

It was the last day of school right before spring break. That day, everything was normal. And by everything, I mean _everything_. I got up at 6:30 am sharp, brushed my teeth, changed into my uniform, inhaled my breakfast, met with Mark, and rushed off to school.

The rest of the things that happened in between the morning and lunch break were pretty uneventful, too. Same boring classes with teachers. Same A pluses.

The only thing unusual, I guess, would be the fact that Mark seemed kind of flushed and nervous (and you're going to find out why exactly he was like that later) and my other best friend, Leaf (I'm not kidding—that's really his name, and you'll find out what he _really _is later) was limping around on his crutches, sniffing the air, and mumbling, "I smell monsters. Oh, no. Oh, no."

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "What's wrong?" I asked Mark.

He gulped. "Um, um, um, nothing."

"There has to be something," I pressed.

He looked down at his lap, like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Somehow I thought randomly that Mark was kind of cute, okay, _hot_, in a geeky way, with curly brown hair and glasses. "Why don't you ask Leaf what's _his _problem?"

"Because Leaf is always acting weird," I replied, "whereas you are usually quite ordinary. So tell me, what's up?"

He shrugged. Then he met my eyes. "Well," he said, "I'm like the only guy in school who doesn't have a girlfriend yet, so..."

I glanced at him incredulously. It wasn't at all for Mark to act like this. "_That's _what you're worried about? Sheesh, Mark. Just ask a girl out or something."

He wouldn't meet my eyes anymore. "Well," he said. "I was thinking if...you know."

"What?" I answered, stabbing a cherry tomato in my organic salad with my fork. I may go to a private school that has lunch by a chef that used to be in the White House, but sometimes his food is a little too rich for me.

"Well," he hesitated. "Will you...will you...will you..."

And that's when all hell—excuse the term, but it is true—broke loose.

I heard someone scream, "FIRE!"

I suddenly got to my feet, alert. I looked around, expecting to see things ablaze. But I didn't see any fire. What I saw was much weirder.

It was a horse.

And not just any horse, either. This was a gigantic horse that seemed to shine, its pelt glittering under the school cafeteria's harsh fluorescent lights.

Meanwhile, Mark was tugging on my arm. "Lily Rose. Lily Rose. We have to go _now_," he hissed.

But I seemed entranced by the horse. I don't know why, exactly. I felt...what, a sort of feeling that it was staring right at me.

Mark was still pulling at my mandatory gray pullover sweater, which I wore over my white blouse, red tie, and knee-length red plaid skirt. "Lily Rose. The fire is _spreading_."

But I didn't budge. I was only vaguely aware of Leaf beside me, hobbling in his crutches, saying, "Thirteen. It used to be twelve, but Lily Rose is _thirteen_."

Now, kids everywhere were screaming bloody murder. The cafeteria was in shambles. Tables had been turned over, and some were throwing their lunches at the horse.

The horse that was beautiful and shining but had a wild look in her eyes. It was a girl, I was sure. A mare.

"Lily Rose, Lily Rose, come with me, come with me," Leaf muttered. He threw his crutches down and took of his shoes. I barely registered the fact that he had _hooves_ there. I guess I was too preoccupied with the horse. "Lily Rose, you know Greek mythology, right? Good. Good. You do. I know you do because your grandmother told you about it, right?" Pause. "Okay, okay, Lily Rose. _That _horse—" in the corner of my eye I sort of made out him pointing—"is one of The Mares of Thrace. Otherwise known as The Mares of Diomedes. Surely you've heard of them. There are four, but for now, I think only one has escaped. I don't smell any more monsters." Another pause, and I felt tugging on my arm. "L. R.! L. R.! Seriously. They are very wild horses. Even one horse is dangerous. Since you are an inexperienced demigod..." Suddenly he grabbed me and rushed me out the cafe. "Go hide in the janitor's closet! Now! I've already sent out an emergency call to some demigods at Camp Half-Blood. I'll come back for you, to take you there. Okay? Okay?" Before I knew it, I was in the hall, hurtled by Leaf, and the next moment, I was in a small, musty room, where my only companions seemed to be a mop, a bucket of soapy water, and various other cleaning supplies.

I don't know how long I sat there, dazed. The horse must've had some hypnotic spell. But when I finally came to my senses and after telling myself "You will not be hypnotized. You will be normal. You shall not get distracted. No,", I rushed outside the janitor's closet.

I looked down at myself. My uniform was still pretty clean. I guess I just smelled like the soap the janitor used to scrub.

And then for some reason, I found myself rushing to the cafeteria.

When I got there, all the tables and chairs were upturned. Spaghetti was splattered onto the floor. Spinach-and-cheese ravioli was stuck to the ceiling. Several organic salads like the one I had were sprinkled around. Bits of tiramisu, chocolate fudge, and strawberry milk were sloshed onto the walls, as well as what looked like Minestrone. Leaf, Mark, all the other kids and teacher's that should've been there were gone. All I saw was nothingness. Just a messy cafeteria.

_But that's impossible_, I thought to myself._ Surely there would be some sort of..._

Suddenly, somehow, my eyes adjusted. I can't quite describe _how_, only that it seemed like everything was clear, then blurry, then clear again, and then something just materialized on the spot. There was the horse again. Beautiful, shining.

As well as two kids about my age, one of them with a knife poised at the horse, ready to kill it.

"STOP!" I shouted without thinking.

The two kids looked up in surprise. And I swear, the horse did, too, despite the fact that it was tied up.

One of the kids (they were a girl and boy) stepped forward. The girl. "What's this?" she said. Her big eyes narrowed at me.

"A girl?" the boy answered sarcastically. "Obviously. Don't you know how a girl looks like? Don't you see a girl in the mirror every day? Well, I guess, with a face like that, you don't—"

"Shut up, Kyle," the girl snapped at him. "And kill the horse."

"Geez, Keira, I was just kidding," the boy replied, the exact same time I screamed, "NO!"

The girl—Keira—took a step forward, kind of dazed and a bit oblivious, like she didn't care that her shoe wouldn't come down on a soggy meatball. "A mortal girl," she murmured curiously. "And she can see us?"

"Must be one of the clear-sighted ones," Kyle said. "Like Ariadne. Or that Rachel Elizabeth back at camp."

"You can't kill that...horse," I said, feeling...weird. I mean, you would too, if you were in my situation, right?

Looking slightly taken aback, Kyle and Keira seemed to become silent, giving me a good opportunity to take a good look at them.

They were obviously siblings. Kyle and Keira both resembled each other. While Kyle was tall and Keira seemed to be of average height, they both had the same golden hair and flawless skin. And Keira had blue eyes, but Kyle's were gold—liquid gold. Lion eyes. They both wore orange shirts with some writing on it that I couldn't quite make out, jeans, and sneakers.

"Because...because..." I mumbled.

Kyle looked at me with his burning eyes. "This," he said, lecturing me not without some air of superiority, "is Lampon, a wild mare that will trample everything in her path. Do you still want her to stay alive?" His eyes fell to the ID I wore around my neck, tucked into the collar of my blouse. "Lily Rose Waldorf, do you think this—" he gestured at the creature "—deserves to live?"

The spell was immediately broken. Lampon. Of course. The shining one. One of the Mares of Thrace. Just like in Greek mythology.

But then, without warning, Kyle plunged his dagger into Lampon. I screamed.

"And this," Kyle said, "is Celestial bronze. It will kill almost every monster, and—"

"KYLE!" Keira cried. "She's a mortal!" Her eyes were fixed right at mine, horrified and flabbergasted and somewhat in awe.

"No, she's not. Can't you see? She can see us. The look in her eyes..."

"Of course I'm mortal," I insisted. "Everyone is. Including you, I'm sure..."

Kyle snorted. "You have no idea how wrong you are. Look, we should—"

"Not take her back to camp," Keira hissed. "Kyle, seriously, if _another _mortal girl..."

"I _told you_, she's _not _mortal, she's—"

"That's it," I said when I saw that Lampon had dissolved into some sort of yellow dust. "I'm calling the police."

Keira gave me a look, and whether it was sadness or pity or something else, I couldn't tell. "They're already here."

In my daze, I realized that everyone must've evacuated. Well.

And it was exactly that moment when the cops burst into the room.

"Officer," I said, but his eyes were already scanning the room.

"No one here in the cafeteria but a student!" he grumbled into his walkie-talkie. Then the cop focused on me. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." I stuttered again, looking behind me. Keira was still looking at me with some sort of sympathy, and Kyle looked aggravatingly smug.

_Why could I see them?_ I thought. _And why can't the cops see them, too?_ _Come to think of it, I don't think anyone but Leaf saw the mare._ "I got scared," I finally replied.

The cop looked at me. "Well," he said, "we've already found out that the fire was caused by a faulty wire. Now let's get you out of here." Another guard then came in and escorted me out.

When I looked back, even just for a second, Keira and Kyle were gone.


	2. Repercussions

**Chapter Two**

_**"Repercussions"**_

It was the day after It Happened.

That was what I had started to call it. I mean, when you see one of your best friends suddenly have furry goat legs and a magic horse, combined with the fact that you met two kids your age who are about as crazy as you, it's not exactly reassuring.

I had spent most of the day in bed, with Nana fussing over me, bringing in tea (the fancy kind in the antique porcelain teapot with designs of roses and milk and sugar cubes) and toast. I guess she was pretty worried, what with my vague explanation ("I saw...a horse...and...") my quiet demeanour, and my refusal to visit the greenhouse (what if I actually started seeing _nymphs_ there? Or fairies?!) that she had taken to playing nurse.

And I guess it must've been Check On Lily Rose Waldorf's Mental Health Day, too, because Mark kept calling, and for the first time, I refused to answer it.

So it was just me (mostly) in bed, and Nana worrying.

"Lily Rose," she'd said, taking my pale hands in her creased ones, "what, exactly, did you see?"

And, of course, I would launch the extremely vague explanations.

By four in the afternoon, though, I was feeling pretty better, so I went to the library.

The library is on the third floor. It is done in a Greek/Roman-inspired way, with decorative white pillars like a coliseum; a highly domed Venetian ceiling painted like the sky—blue with beautiful white clouds; and an intricate pattern on the marble tiles of the floor, a pattern which you can only truly see and appreciate when on one of the miniature balconies on the upper sides of the library walls.

And the books. Bookshelves filled with them, from ancient scrolls that were yellowed and had crackled edges; thick, purple and scarlet vellum ones, the insides worn and written by hand, probably monks; old Bibles in about a million languages, some big, some small, some with a gently furled maroon velvet ribbon that served as a bookmark—some so old that the insides were deep gold and the print an inky black, with blood on the pages, some new and shiny and glossy, with gold letters and crisp white pages; and a million other novels, classics like _Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, _and _A Tale of Two Cities_, and even childish ones like _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland _and _Through The Looking Glass_—also interesting second-hand ones and new ones that smelled fresh.

And in the midst of it all, tucked in a corner, contrasting with the ancient Greek motifs, the special computer, where you can find any book you're looking for.

I loved the library so much, and books, as much as I love pink roses and other greenery, that I usually didn't have to look in the computer. Years of exploring on feet (or stepladders!) had given me expertise about Where's What In The Library.

But even so, I typed 'Greek Mythology', my fingers quivering nervously—for what reason, I don't know why.

Like I said, I knew the library well. The titles relating to or tagged with Greek Mythology appeared, as well as a map and directions where to find it.

But for some reason, as the mouse hovered on the screen, I noticed a title, smaller than the rest, as if it hoped to be carelessly overlooked.

_Greek Mythology: The Ancient Tales of One of The First Civilizations_ by Rick Riordan, a scribe.

"Woah," I heard myself whisper, despite...well, you know. Everything.

But when I clicked on the title, the stuff on the computer screen changed.

It crackled. I didn't even know computers could crackle, but...the screen went from the books to the Sphinx.

I know. The Sphinx!

I gasped. The Sphinx, however, just moved its mouth, in a mechanical sort of way.

"What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?" it asked, its mouth jutting open and close like a robot.

Still freaked, I managed to stutter the answer to the riddles, one every Greek myth lover must know: "A man."

The Sphinx's mouth curved, saying in a slippery, feline voice, "CORRECT."

Suddenly, from what I thought at first was a webcam, came a flash of red light—almost like a retinal scanner. It went over my face, then the Sphinx said, "DEMIGOD. ACCESS WILL BE GIVEN."

I whimpered.

Almost as if it was alive, or a smartphone, the Sphinx went, in its weird voice, "THIS IS A PROTECTED COMPUTER AND ROOM, MADE OF CELESTIAL BRONZE."

"What?" I cried.

But then the screen flashed, and was replaced with...a map.

"No way," I muttered, staring at the screen.

I ended up going for a hidden nook, where out popped the book—by that scribe named Rick Riordan.

_What kind of book is so special that it needs to be hidden? And what kind of computer is this? _

I checked the back of the computer. Nothing amiss, except the ancient Greek _delta_. Immediately, I thought _Mark of Daedalus!_ Then told myself, _No need to be crazy_.

I checked out the book. Black like midnight was the cover, and the pages were glowing white.

Shaking with tension, I began to read.

* * *

"Lily Rose?"

I rubbed my tired eyes, exhausted from the wealth of information the book had poured out.

"Yeah, Nana?" I called out, hastily hiding the book.

Nana stepped in to view. She was wearing a bright blue dress with pink roses on it. "I, er, Mark is here to see you."

I blinked at her in surprise. "Oh." I had nearly forgotten about Mark—because seriously, who forgets about her best friend so easily? Well, yes, I was undergoing this _Am-I-crazy-or-not _thing, but still. I shouldn't forget _him_, of all people in the world.

I got up quickly. I was, thankfully, already dressed—in a pink three-quarters sleeve Coach top, my white Ralph Lauren capris, and sneakers.

"Lily Rose?" I heard Mark say.

He stepped in to view, too, hesitating at the doorway, oddly nervous.

I glanced at him with a smile. "Hi, Mark. Sorry—"

"No." Mark shook his head vigorously. "It's me who should be sorry. I...I thought you were avoiding me."

I was taken by surprise. "Avoiding you? What...why?"

His face was beet red. "Um, well, because, you know..." his voice trailing off.

I grinned at him. "Well, you know, just after that fire at school—well, it can be nerve-wracking for anyone, can't it?"

He looked at me in surprise. "It's not...something I did, something I said..."

"No." I shook my head firmly. "It's not that, Mark, I..."

"Well, good." Mark had broken out in a dazzling white, never-needed braces smile. "Wanna come over to my place? My mom is making tacos."

"Sure!" I grinned, and we exited the room together.

* * *

Downstairs, everything was in this sort of orderly chaos. Maids, in their white-and-black uniforms, were scurrying about, carrying items such as flower vases, etc. The smell of cooked food—appetizers—wafted from the kitchen: mini Quiche Lorraine's, bits of shrimp, and sushi. Waiters carried around little martini glasses in colourful liquids. In the midst of it all, the party planner—a woman in a white long-sleeved button-down blouse and a knee-length black pencil skirt and killer black heels—was waving her purple clipboard around, screaming both orders and into the tiny black earpiece she wore.

"What..." I stopped in my tracks.

"Hello, Lily Rose," a cool, masculine voice said behind me.

I turned around. "Dad?"

As usual, Archibald Waldorf was dressed in an Armani suit, smelling strongly of cologne. His Crest Whitestrip grin was unnervingly even and fake.

I finally found my voice. "What are you..."

"Doing here?" His voice held bleak amusement for a moment. "I _live _here, Lily Rose."

"No, you don't," I insisted, "you live in your office, in your private jet, and in your—"

He cut me off easily. "On spring break, I see. And hello, Martin."

I whirled around. I had nearly forgotten Mark was there, looking uncomfortable. "Hello, Mister Waldorf, sir," he said politely.

I turned back to my dad, glaring. "It's Mark, not Martin," I spat angrily. "But then again, if you actually were around..."

"No, it's okay, Lily Rose," I heard Mark say placatingly, but my dad broke in.

"I expect you to meet my guests," he said smoothly. "Put on a dress, ask Nana to fix your hair—or even better yet, the maids. I'm afraid," he continued easily, "that my mother's just going to make a fearful mess out of it."

I swallowed. "You're rarely home, Dad. And you want me to..."

"I expect you to," he broke in icily.

"Dad..." I said. "No. I'm going to Mark's."

Something in his eyes flashed murderously. "Lily Rose..."

"No." I turned, grabbed Mark's hand, and got the hell out of there.

* * *

"I'm sorry about my dad," I said sorrowfully.

Mark and I were sitting on his couch, watching a movie. His mother's homemade tacos were placed in front of us, on the coffee table. They were delicious.

"It's okay," he said, reaching for the salsa. "Really..."

I cut him off. "I don't understand why he has to be a jerk all the time."

He blinked uncertainly. "Lily Rose," he said. "Never mind that for now."

I heard someone's footsteps. Mark's mom. "Hi, Mrs. Thomas," I said politely.

"Hello, dear." Mark's mom had a wonderful, kind accent. She was beautiful, with brown hair just like Mark's, and gray eyes that sparkled whether under the light or not.

_Why can't my family be like that_, I thought. Because it was true. Mark lived in a big house, but his parents had time for him. Or, to be more specific, he had _two _parents and _both _had time for him. All my dad did, aside from traipsing around the world on account of his business, was invite guests over for cocktail parties—guests who dressed extravagantly. Ladies would glide around in slinky Ermengildo Zegna gowns, champagne flutes in their hands, and killer stiletto Christian Louboutins. Men wore dark Armani suits with designer cuff links. The amount of jewelry my dad's guests wore amounted to probably a ton.

Mark's parents, in contrast, were millionaires who didn't all act stiff and formal. They didn't step out in head-to-toe designer outfits. They didn't put up weird formal accents. And they certainly cared about and loved Mark.

Why couldn't my life be like that?

"Anyway," Mark drawled on. I realized his mom had left for the kitchen or something. "What I was saying to you in school..."

"Huh?" I blinked.

He turned beet red. "You really don't remember?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding panicked.

I slit my eyes over to him. "There it is again."

He still looked panicked. "What?"

I pointed at his face. "You're acting weird again."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," I insisted. "And your brow is sweating."

"It isn't."

"It is." I folded my arms over my chest. "Now, spill."

He looked at me incredulously. Finally, he swallowed nervously. "Look," he said, "about what I said back at school..."

"Before the fire broke out and...yeah...?" I replied, almost revealing the fact that I saw something that was in Greek mythology in real life, or in short, that I was crazy.

He gulped. "Um, yeah."

I nodded. "Continue."

He looked down at his lap, like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Well, like I said, I'm one of the only guys in school without a girlfriend yet. So I thought..."

I broke in. "So ask someone out. You could ask...let's see...Caryn or..."

"I don't want to ask Caryn out," he said, staring straight at me in a way that sent me shivers up my spine.

"Okay, then," I said, "why?"

He swallowed again. "Because..."

"Lily Rose?"

Mark's mom. I quickly got up and rushed to the kitchen. "Yes, Mrs. Thomas?"

She smiled at me. "Your Nana called." She paused. "She'll be here any second now. She said that your dad's guests are gone, and she needs to pick you up..."

_Ding-dong_.

"Oh," I said.

Mrs. Thomas grinned at me and rushed to answer the door. "Yes, Mrs. Waldorf. Yes, she _is _here. Oh, there's going to be a sale? I didn't know that..."

I quickly rushed back to Mark. "Nana's here."

He looked up, shocked, and maybe even a little bit crestfallen. "What?"

"My Nana's here," I repeated. I grinned. "Guess I have to go. See ya."

"But—" he protested, but I cut him off.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay? Bye!" I waved at him and rushed to Nana.

She was standing in the doorway making conversation with Mark's mom. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she wore the same flowered dress she had on earlier.

Nana glanced at me. "I'm so sorry, dear," she said apologetically. "Your father...he wanted you home early. He's off to Europe, now, on some business trip..."

I was used to this. "Okay," I said, trying to sound cheerful. I turned to Mrs. Thomas. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Mrs. Thomas grinned, before closing the door behind us.  
Nana and I began making our way down the path of Mark's house.

"I'm sorry, dear, to have you home so early," she said. "It's just..."

"Dad. Yeah. I know." I picked at my cuticles.

She smiled sadly. "It's just...I hoped that...you and your father...could be closer..."

I gulped. "Dad cheated on Mom, didn't he?"

I heard Nana gasp, and turned to look at her.

She looked so taken aback.

"It's okay, Nana," I said, placing my hand on her old wrinkled arm. "I'm okay with it..."

"Lily Rose." Nana's voice sounded bleak. "Your father did not cheat on your mother."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

She sighed. "Oh, Lily Rose..."

"I'm just saying things how I see it, Nana. Oh there. We're home." I opened the front door and beckoned Nana to enter.

Inside, everything was immaculate. It was as if nothing ever touched the house. All the tiny tables were gone, the special decorations vanished, and the only thing left that somehow proved that there really was a party was the faint smell of a woman's perfume—Chanel No. 5.

Trust my dad to hire the best—and most expensive—party planners and maids in the world.

I began making my way up the stairs. "Good night, Nana."

"But..." Nana sighed. "Good night, Lily Rose, dear."

My footsteps barely made a sound as I made my way to my comfortable bedroom. After changing into my pyjamas and brushing my teeth, I threw myself on the 800-thread count duvet and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

My dreams that night were...disturbing.

I dreamt of the night sky. The stars were shining peacefully. The clouds floated, forming beautiful shadows. The wind blew hard, but in a good way.

I was standing on a beach. I was wearing an ancient Greek chiton, and brown sandals. My hair was braided down the side of my neck.

"Hello, dear."

I looked up and saw a lady. She was tall, maybe around thirty, with long hair, plaited with blades of grass. She smiled down at me.

Something in me stirred—a gut feeling. "Mother?" I gasped.

Then suddenly my dream shifted.

Kyle. With his blond hair and beautiful gold eyes. Standing in some sort of brown room, surrounded by weapons. He wore an orange shirt, like when I first had seen him, jeans and sneakers. He was honing the blade of his sword—the one he said was Celestial bronze.

"What..." I said, then realized he probably couldn't hear me.

He then started to polish the bronze blade. With a cloth, he began rubbing it.

"Kyle?" I heard a voice say. A girl's voice. "Kyle?"

He looked up. "What?"

The door swung open. Keira stepped in. She stood there, scowling. "What are you doing here?"

"As you can see, I'm polishing my blade. And I quote Chiron, _'A hero's sword must always be—'"_

"Chiron never said any of that sword rubbish," Keira snapped, folding her arms over her orange T-shirt.

"Well, maybe he didn't," Kyle admitted. "But you have to agree, he is always giving out some words of wisdom..."

"I can't believe you're disrespecting that honourable man."

"You mean centaur."

"I forgot how insufferable you can get when you were normal and not thinking of _her_." Keira managed to inject venom into that single word, like how a snake injects its deadly poison into a creature with its fangs.

She then turned and left. As she stalked off, I saw Kyle gazing at her retreating back. He seemed...wistful.

_Did she really mean Chiron, the centaur? _I thought. _All these Greek myths _are _real_.

* * *

I woke up to the extremely queer feeling of _someone looming over me_.

Now, first I would like to say I do not believe in ghosts. I am actually more scared of Greek mythology than ghosts.

I quickly open my eyes, and saw a silhouette...

I screamed. I pushed at him (it seemed like a him!) hard, and grabbed my pillows. I started lobbing them at the intruder.

"NANA! NANA!" I screeched.

My head was whirling. My dad, being Archibald Waldorf, aka the cold-hearted millionaire businessman, had installed a state-of-the-art security system.

_So why is there an intruder?!_

"NANA!" I screamed. I delivered a punch—straight to the guy's face.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his nose. "Are you always this nice to people?"

_Wait. Is that _Kyle? I quickly glanced at the clock. "Only to people who insist on intruding in my house at 3 am," I informed him.

"Sheesh," he muttered, still rubbing his nose.

"Lily Rose!"

_Wait. I know that voice. _I quickly bounded across the room and stuck my head out the window. "Leaf?"

_LEAF IS HERE! _I thought, panicking. "Leaf," I cried again, "I know we're best friends and all, but I'm calling the cops." I grabbed my brand new iPhone and began to dial 911.

"That won't be necessary," I heard a voice behind me say, and I turned around, coming face-to-face with Kyle, who had seemed to recover from his nose. He snatched the phone out of my hands, and began to..."

"DON'T THROW IT!" I cried, lunging for my iPhone. "YOU CRAZY PERSON. OH MY GODS DID YOU KNOW I GOT THIS PINK CASE JUST FROM TORY BURCH LAST WEEK?!"

I managed to grab my iPhone back. Kyle had been distracted. "Did you just say 'Oh my gods'?" he inquired, looking triumphant. "I _knew _it. You _are _a demigod."

"NO, I am NOT!" I shouted. "NANA! SOMEONE!"

"Lily Rose." Nana's voice was calm. She had stepped into my room silently. "Calm yourself. I called this young men. Or rather, man and satyr. Let's all have tea, shall we?"

* * *

"You're a demigod," was the first thing Nana said to me.

We were in the tea room—or whatever you called that place for tea. Nana had managed to whip out some Earl Gray and milk and sugar cubes, complete with our antique porcelain tea set. Plus little cakes and stuff.

"Um," I said. "No, I'm not."

Beside me, Kyle made a sound. I turned to glare at him. He raised his eyebrows and grinned in response.

"You are," Nana said patiently. "Lily Rose—you are a _demigod_."

"Um, no," I said.

Nana sighed. "Your mother was Demeter."

"No," I said. "She isn't."

Leaf, who was chewing on silverware, made a goatly sound.

"I mean," I continued, "that's impossible."

Nana gave me a sad look. "It's okay, dear," she said. "I, for one, am a demigod myself."

Leaf spat his spoon out. "No way, Mrs. Waldorf!"

"Yes way," I heard Kyle say. "It would explain why she has quite some knowledge about the gods."

"But..." I said.

Nana smiled sadly. "I know it's a lot to take in," she said. "But it's the truth."

"It can't be," I responded numbly.

"Oh, but it is," Kyle said cheerfully, shooting a mocking grin at my direction. He reached out to grab a scone and bit into it. "Not bad," he said, chewing.

Nana said, "I was very much like you before. When you've lived your life as a mortal, completely oblivious of the fact that there are certain other beings—that Greek mythology _is _real—well, you would be quite shocked."

"'Quite shocked'," I said, "is an understatement."

It was here when Leaf broke in. "Lily Rose," he said, "did you tell your Nana what _really _happened in school?"

I stirred my tea. "Not entirely," I admitted.

"Well, you should," Leaf said, "so she can help."

I sighed and began telling them the whole story.

When I had finished, Nana said, half-reproaching and half-sympathetic, "Lily Rose, that was very brave of you. But you should've told me."

"I would've," I replied, "except for the fact that...I don't know, you might think I was going crazy?"

Nana shook her head. "I would never, ever do that."

"Like ever," Kyle smirked, and I turned to glare at him.

"I can't believe you're mocking one of the world's greatest artists," I spat.

"I can't believe you think humiliating people and calling it music is right," Kyle shot back.

"Easy there, Swiftie," Leaf said.

I didn't say anything. I felt like my insides had been scooped out.

But when I finally found my voice again, I asked the question I had been longing to ask.

"Did Dad know?"

Nana looked taken aback. "I..."

"_Did Dad know?"_

Nana looked crestfallen. "Lily Rose," she said. "Of course he did."

* * *

They took me to Camp Half-Blood.

I don't remember the exact details of the journey. Mostly I just slumped in whatever vehicle Nana was driving (yes, Nana could _drive_. I was shocked) and staring straight out to space.

As we neared, I felt more like I didn't belong. There was a looming sense of wrongness, and I could barely bear it.

Chiron was there. He was half-horse, half-man—a centaur. He shook Nana's hand and asked how she was. Apparently, fifty or so years ago, he had met her in Camp Half-Blood.

You know, when she was around my age.

I didn't even want to ask how old he (meaning Chiron) was. I mean, he's been around for several millennia. I bet he lost count.

Anyway, Nana left, and I ended up alone, with Leaf and Kyle and Chiron, leaving me feeling all...empty, on the inside.

"So, Lily Rose," Chiron said nicely, in a fatherly voice that I would've liked but in my current situation only annoyed me, "tell us a little about your past."

"I am _not _a demigod," I insisted.

"Mm-hm," Chiron said, sounding like he was used to it. This only got me madder. "Lily Rose, I know it's a hard truth to face, but..." He turned to Leaf and Kyle. "Would you two leave us for a while? I need to speak to Lily Rose in private."

Leaf jumped up excitedly, his hooves clacking on the hard wood floors of wherever we were in—Big House or something. "Sure, sir, sure..."

And with that, he scurried out.

Kyle seemed more reluctant. "But, sir," he said. Then he flashed his brilliant smile at me. "You want me here, don't you?"

I turned my head away.

"Kyle," Chiron said, "please."

"Fine," he said reluctantly, leaving.

Once the door of the room we were in shut, I turned to Chiron. "I don't see what's there to talk about."

"I'm afraid there is." Chiron's brow furrowed, and his horse half began to gallop in place uneasily.

"Actually, no," I said, "unless you have a talk with every demigod that's come...unwillingly, too, I might add."

Chiron shook his head gravely. "No. It's just, Lily Rose, I spoke with your grandmother..."

"Nana? Yeah, I know."

"No," Chiron said. "You don't."

I raised my eyebrow. "Uh-huh?"

Chiron sighed. "What I meant to say, Lily Rose," he said, crossing the room in two strides, ending up behind some sort of office desk, like he was principal and I was delinquent, "that, well, you're a child of Demeter, aren't you?"

"I guess," I said sulkily.

"And," Chiron went on, "some children of Demeter have been known to grow plants..."

"Well," I said, "yes, I guess."

Chiron nodded. "Right. Er, Lily Rose..."

"Uh-huh?"

"Could you try it right now?"

"Oh," I said. "Um, Chiron, doubt it."

"Why is that?"

"Because," I replied, "I'm thirteen years old. Soon to be fourteen. And, in all my almost-fourteen years of life, I have not done anything close to growing plants magically. Just, you know, the normal way."

Chiron looked nervous. "Just try, will you, Lily Rose?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. Which, you know, he probably was.

But I had nothing to lose. So I said, "Okay."

Chiron got up nervously. He led me out the door.

"Now, just concentrate really hard, Lily Rose," he said, standing beside me (which I really didn't like. I mean, there is a reason why, during Macy's Day Parade, they have kids on pooper-scooper patrol. Just saying.), "and don't forget to make sure you summon your mother in your mind."

_How the heck do I do _that? I thought. "Okay," I muttered. "Concentrating and summoning real hard."

I stretched out my arm in front of me, to the direction of the ground. That was when I heard I derisive sort of snort, like someone trying hard (and failing) not to laugh.

I craned my head to the left. Standing there, ten feet or so away, was _Kyle_. His gold eyes were flickering mischievously, and he was smirking.

I then realized how stupid I looked, with only Chiron there to take me seriously.

But my annoyance only drove me to concentrate harder. My brow furrowed in concentration. _Grow, _I thought, _grow. _

Somehow, my vision blurred. Adrenaline coursing through my veins, and I stretched my arm out, just a little bit more.

And nothing happend.

Nothing at all.

"Well," Chiron said, sounding relieved, "I believe your Nana, may the gods bless her soul, was wrong..."

But then there came a low rumbling sound. Chiron looked alarmed. Several campers screamed. A girl in the distance, with long strawberry-blond hair, shrieked so loud I thought my eardrums would burst.

The earth was shaking, and in the midst of it all, a tree rose up. Roots first, brown roots, stretching out and causing cracks in the ground. Then the trunk, so thick and rough, slowly rising above. Then the branches stretched out, like arms begging for mercy, growing leaves. Until at the midst of Camp Half-Blood was a tall oak, blocking some of the sunlight, causing leaf-patterned emerald shadows on the earth.

I turned to survey the area around me, shocked. Several campers were staring at me—looking a bit fearful, but I detected a sort of glint behind their eyes—was it respect?

And there was Kyle. His eyes were wide, as surprised as everyone else.

And last but not the least, Chiron, who I'd nearly forgotten. He cleared his throat. "Campers, back to your activities." Then to me, "I see you bear the special gift of the children of Demeter—something very dangerous indeed. Now wait for Raven, she'll give you a tour of Camp."

I couldn't believe it. "What?!"

He turned to me, eyebrows raised. "Yes, Lily Rose?"

"I, I make this tree, this _humongous _tree, and...and...that's all you're gonna say? I mean, seriously. I just did something earth-shattering, something like _that_, and you just tell me to get a tour from some raven?!"

"Trust me, Lily Rose," he said, disappearing into his office, "that is all I can do."


	3. Poison Ivy

**Chapter Three**

**_"Poison Ivy"_**

I kicked a nearby rock and cursed—in Ancient Greek, surprisingly. I had no idea how _that_ happened, though.

Some campers were still staring at me with wide-open eyes. I avoided them hastily.

_I see you bear the special gift of the children of Demeter—something very dangerous indeed. _So Demeter's children had this special, plant-growing gift. But something in Chiron's eyes told me—well, that there was something different about mine.

_Stop it. You're getting paranoid, _I told myself. It was then I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around.

The girl staring back at me was skinny, with slightly-messy brown hair and hazel eyes. If it weren't for the fact that she had some sort of hippie-style (she was wearing a long, colourful, sort of Bohemian-printed skirt over her jeans and her neck and arms were dripping with beaded jewellery) she would've been really pretty.

"Hello," she said firmly, with a slight Southern accent, sticking out her tanned hand, "I'm Raven."

"Lily Rose," I said, extending my own hand, smiling.

She smiled back. "I take you're the one who made that tree—" she pointed at the enormous oak "—grow there?"

"Well," I replied, somewhat hesitantly, "yes."

"It's okay," she assured me. "All, or rather _almost all_, children of Demeter can do that. Except..."

"Except what?"

She shrugged. "Except that most children of Demeter can't do something as huge as _that_. They mostly stick to growing honeysuckles. Small things."

"Really?" I asked nervously, feeling somewhat paranoid once more. "Then...what I did, it wasn't normal?"

She looked surprised. "No, I suppose it's perfectly normal. It's just that children of Demeter...well, they usually have to rest for a while before conjuring up more green stuff."

"Oh."

"So yeah." Raven gestured. "Now come on, I'll give you a tour."

* * *

We walked all around Camp Half-Blood. When Raven said she was giving me a tour, she wasn't kidding.

"There—" she pointed at some brown fence stuff "—are the stables. We keep pegasi there and..."

"Chiron?" I asked.

She looked shocked for a second. "Lily Rose!" she began, then doubled up with laughter. She quickly composed herself, though. "Sorry. We're not really supposed to make fun of him. I mean, he's _Chiron_, for the sake of the gods! But that's the first time I ever heard someone make fun of him."

I shrugged. "I don't like him much."

Her eyes widened. "You _don't_?!"

"Yeah," I said philosophically, "I don't."

She looked taken aback. "Well," she said, "I don't mean to pry, but why not?"

"Long story," I said immediately.

"I see," she said, in a tone indicating that she probably _did _see, more than I wanted her to.

Raven showed me a lot more stuff. There were canoe lakes (which were filled with _real _naiads, or water spirits, each with long beautiful hair and weaving a basket), a rock-climbing wall (which had _lava _pouring down it. Seriously. I asked Raven and she was all, "Little extra challenge."), several fields dedicated just for sports (including archery), the shower areas, the mess hall (where campers ate), several small log cabins (where, Raven explained, we campers were to learn lessons) and last but not the least, the cabins.

Most of the cabins formed a U-shape, with several other cabins scattered about. One of them seemed to be made entirely of hammered metal, another seemed to be entirely made of millions of bricks, each with eerie-looking runes and symbols. Most looked ordinary enough, but some were breathtaking to look at.

"Wow" was all I could say.

Raven turned to me and grinned. "I know, right?"

"They're just all so...majestic," I murmured.

Raven nodded. "The one over there, the one that's made of magic bricks, that's my cabin. Hecate."

"Hecate."

"Goddess of magic."

"I know."

Raven nodded again. "And over there," she pointed, "is your cabin. For, you know. Demeter."

I followed the direction of her finger. "You mean the silver one?" I asked hopefully.

"Um, actually, no. The green one."

I was flabbergasted. "The _green _one? The one with the grass for a roof?"

"Uh, yeah."

"_Raven. _That one can light up anytime. Especially when Zeus isn't in a particularly good mood."

"Don't worry! It's enchanted. I think."

"You _think_."

"Right."

"Then let's go check it out, shall we?" I began walking towards the direction of the cabin.

"Wait!" Raven jogged to keep up with me. "The tour isn't finished yet."

"I don't care. I'm curious."

Raven sighed, and then shrugged. "If you say so."

* * *

As we approached the cabin, I began to note more things about its appearance. Aside from having grass for a roof (which is so a fire waiting to happen), my cabin had big windows, each with honeysuckle and roses growing out of it. Pretty, I guess. There were flower garlands _everywhere_, and it smelled like my greenhouse back at home, a thought which comforted me.

I rapped on the door with my knuckles.

"Um, Lily Rose, do you want me to introduce you..."

Raven's voice trailed off. The door was opened by a girl.

A very _mean _girl.

"Well, well, well!" the girl said. "If it isn't the show-off miracle tree-grower!"

For some strange reason I was feeling reckless and rebellious. "If it isn't the slut." Because seriously, that's how she looked like.

She, like all the other campers, was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. However, while everyone else wore theirs the right size, hers was a few sizes too big and knotted at the front, exposing her midriff. Her blue skinny jeans were so tight and ripped that I wondered why she'd even bothered to put them on, since those jeans certainly revealed more than they concealed. She had dyed strawberry-blond curly hair (you could see mousy roots), a fake tan (it was _orange_), and eyes like mine, except hers were cold and calculating, and snake green. She stood with a hand on her hip, leaning slightly on the door frame, like she was posing for a camera that wasn't there. She wasn't pretty, exactly, but the combined effect of the perfect waves, the big eyes, the (fake) tan, tons of makeup plus fake eyelashes, and a revealing outfit, sort of made her look better than she really was—the kind of person who you'd think looked bad without makeup.

In short, I hated her instantly. And I'm pretty sure that the feeling was mutual.

She looked coldly at me. "A newbie," she said, rather dismissively. "No threat."

"Careful, Lily Rose," I heard Raven whisper, "she is _not _someone you want to mess with."

Which got me mad. Or rather, madder. "I guess you're right—I'm not a threat. Which is why you screamed earlier when I made that tree."

Back in the cabin, I heard some girls gasp. "Ooooh! Burn!"

She turned back and flashed them a glare. Focusing her attention on me, she said, "You might want to be careful with what you say, newbie. Miranda Gardner is our counsellor, and she put me in charge while she's gone."

"Technically, Miranda didn't put you in charge," I heard a girl sniff angrily. "She put _me _in charge, except you..."

"Shut up, Christie. While Miranda's gone, _I _make the rules, kk?"

"My gods," I drawled. "You're poison."

"I'm Ivy." She narrowed her eyes. Then her glance flicked over to Raven, who flinched slightly. "Hey, aren't you the one with the deadbeat dad? Giving a tour to the newbie here?"

"Poison Ivy," I said. "It suits you. I'm Lily Rose."

Poison Ivy opened her mouth to say something, but by then Raven had tugged at my arm and steered me away.

"Are you _crazy_? Taking on _Ivy Mercer_?" Raven said once we were somewhere near the forest at Camp.

"She's the stereotypical mean girl who pushes people down to get her where she wanna goes," I said (unknowingly quoting Taylor Swift—well, sorta.). "I had to do something."

Raven huffed in exasperation. "Rule One of Camp Half-Blood: Do _not_, under any circumstances, mess with Ivy Mercer."

"I doubt that's a legit rule."

Raven sighed loudly. "She's gonna..."

"Gonna what? Did she ever do something remotely threatening or major? Like, I don't know, something aside from making those stupid remarks of hers and telling people to shut up?"

"Well no, but..."

"Look. Girls like Ivy are scared. Scared of being bullied. And they turn that fear around by hurting others."

Raven looked surprised. She gazed at me with newfound respect, or something. "I...I guess."

"Anyway," I said, "what'd Ivy mean by...well, I don't mean to pry. But why'd she say 'deadbeat dad'?"

Raven's face had suddenly become closed off. "That's very personal, Lily Rose."

I turned red. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry..."

"Of course you didn't." And with that, Raven stomped off.

* * *

In the end, I headed back to the Demeter cabin. But before I could even knock, the door opened again. I cringed, bracing myself for Ivy, but instead a different girl stood there. She looked like a pretty pixie—petite, pale-skinned, platinum blond, and green-eyed.

"You can come in," she said, in a soft, somewhat high-pitched girly voice. Then, seeing my hesitation, she added, "Ivy's gone."

"Gone?"

"Yeah," the girl said. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Christie."

"Lily Rose."

I entered the cabin. It looked normal and neat enough, with wooden beds with fluffy white mattresses and duvets. And there were flowers _everywhere_.

Also, aside from Christie and me, there was no one else in sight.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked.

Christie shrugged. "To camp activities. To ride pegasi, to canoe, camp stuff. And in Ivy's case, to flirt with boys."

"But you don't go. To camp activities, I mean."

"I can't," she said, "because I'm not allowed. My dad only let me join Camp Half-Blood because he made Chiron swear on the River Styx that I won't do anything that my dad didn't like."

"That sucks."

"Not really," Christie replied, shrugging. "Except for the pegasi, I don't like Camp much."

"Me too."

Christie smiled shyly at me. "Yeah. Being a demigod sucks, so far, huh?"

"You know it," I replied grimly.

"I don't think our Camp has seen that much news ever since Percy Jackson."

I turned to look at her. "Who?"

"_Percy Jackson_," she said, "was this totally-brave guy. He was the son of Poseidon, even though the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—swore on the River Styx to not have any more children after World War Two. When Kronos came, and later, Gaea..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

By now Christie's eyes were shining. "He was one of the bravest demigods who _ever _lived. Without him, Kronos would have taken over Olympus, Gaea would have controlled the world, and there would be no more Golden Age."

"_What?!_"

"Of course you don't know," she mused, half to herself and half to me. "You're new at Camp. And I've been here since last summer. Didn't Raven tell you _anything_?"

"She did. Some stuff."

"Like?"

I pondered on this question. "She told me about Capture the Flag."

"And?"

I thought harder. "The kinds of campers. Year-rounders. We have lessons in the pegasi stables, the lake, and in those small log cabins."

"That's all?"

I shrugged. "There _was _more, but that's all that matters, anyway."

Christie took a deep breath. "Without Percy Jackson, and his fiancée, Annabeth Chase, we wouldn't be alive today."

"Great," I said, smiling, and for the first time it was genuine. "Tell me more about it."

* * *

By the time Christie had finished, it was almost dark. A conch horn blew. Christie reassured me that it meant it was dinnertime.

"At the mess hall," she said, "with a camp fire and _everything_. You'll love it!"

The only thing that soured the mood was Ivy.

"If it isn't the newbie," she drawled again. "Honestly, why don't you do us all a favour and leave?"

"Why don't you do us all a favour and _die_?" I countered.

"Ooh!" some people said.

Ivy flashed them all a thin smile, like a snake's. "Remember, I'm counsellor."

But her confidence was wavering. I could see it in her eyes.

* * *

The mess hall was a pleasant surprise. And as Christie promised, there was a camp fire.

Poison Ivy, being counsellor, led the Demeter cabin to our table. She marched up ahead like she was the Queen of Sheba (if the Queen of Sheba dressed like a hooker), tossing her strawberry-blond curls as she went by. There was an aggravatingly smug look plastered on her face, and more than once I was tempted to slap it off.

Christie rolled her eyes. "Ivy feels like she rules _everything_."

"Yup," I said. "I wonder why she's even counsellor?"

Christie's eyes darkened, and she looked even more resentful. "Miranda Gardner _was _our counsellor. That is, until she had to go home for a family emergency and left _me _in charge. But stupid Ivy just..." Christie clenched her fists in anger. "She actually _went _and told Chiron and signed the counsellor papers..."

I shook my head. "That stupid rhymes-with-a-witch."

"Uh-huh. Hopefully she gets what she deserves soon."

Meanwhile, our cabin began lining up for food. There were lamb chops and gravy, mashed potatoes, and cheeseburgers. Everything smelled so good.

"I wonder why they put all the food near a brazier," I said, indicating a large fire nearby, while adding extra gravy to my chops.

Christie grinned. "Watch and learn, _newbie_." Somehow, when Christie said 'newbie', she managed to not piss me off.

Once Christie's plate was piled high with salad ("I'm vegetarian," she'd informed me) she walked over to the brazier and scraped part of her food into it. "For the gods," she said. Then she turned to me. "Now, do the same—it's a sacrifice for the Olympians."

I shrug. "Okay," I said. I strode over to the brazier and dropped a piece of lamb and some mashed potatoes. "For the gods. For Demeter." And then I closed my eyes.

_Please, mom_, I thought, _I just want a normal life. As normal as it can get at Camp Half-Blood. And..._

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Oops!" I heard a voice say. I felt someone nudge me, _hard_, and all of a sudden I was stumbling onto the my entire plate came crashing down, with bits of lamb and mashed potatoes _everywhere_.

"Oh. My. Gods." I said. I turned and saw...

Poison Ivy. Again.

"That'll teach you to watch your mouth, _newbie_," she spat gleefully. She threw her head back and began cackling.

And all of a sudden, something in me snapped.

I could vaguely hear Christie whispering from behind me ("Leave it alone this time, Lily Rose!") but I didn't care at all. Before I knew it, there were vines growing around Ivy, rooting her to the ground, and she was dangerously close to the fire.

"And _this_," I retorted angrily, "will teach you to watch _your _mouth."

"Lily Rose!" I heard a deep voice say from behind me.

But I ignored it. The vines wrapped more tightly.

"Lily Rose!"

Ivy was writhing and shrieking in pain, and the vines were tipping her over...closer to the brazier...

"LILY ROSE WALDORF!"

I blinked. The vines released Ivy, and she dropped onto the ground, in a sobbing, hysterical heap. Her hair was on fire—at least a tiny part of it—and a naiad came over, blew water onto it, shot me a dirty look, and melted.

I whirled around. And there stood Chiron, arms folded, brow furrowed, his hooves clattering angrily on the ground.

"Lily Rose," he said, in a steely-calm voice, "in my office, please."

* * *

"Never in my life," Chiron said, pacing the office (as much as he could pace in such a tiny space while in horse-form), "have I seen such temper, such abuse of power, such irresponsibility."

"Look, Chiron," I said. "I'm really sorry." Because I was. I never lost my temper before, and somehow now, the vines...squeezing Ivy to death, threatening to burn her alive at any moment, horrified me. I mean, she deserved it...or did she? Who was I to decide?

"Never in my life," Chiron went on, shaking his head, "have I heard of..."

"Actually, no, sir," I heard a voice from behind me say. "Percy Jackson too, sir, if I'm not mistaken?"

I whirled around. And there stood Kyle. He kept popping out at random moments of my life. It was getting annoying.

Kyle plopped a couple of leaves with writing on them onto Chiron's desk. "Didn't Percy Jackson have a huge fight with a Huntress during a Capture The Flag game years ago? Didn't he..."

"Kyle," Chiron said wearily. "Pray tell me, do I even want to know how come you saw through the Mist I put on the other campers?"

_The Mist_, I thought, remembering something Christie had told me, _which blocks minds._

"No," Kyle said cheerfully. "And..."

"Kyle. Please leave us now."

Kyle looked disappointed. "All right, sir," he said, and left.

Once he was gone, Chiron cleared his throat. "You know what, Lily Rose?"

"What?"

"You have an extraordinary and exquisite power that very few children of Demeter have," he replied, "so please promise me—I'm not going to make you swear on the River Styx, mind you, because I know you can be trusted—but please, please, _please_ promise me you won't do anything like that again."

I paused. "Unless it's an emergency."

"Please, Lily Rose," Chiron begged imploringly. "Just..."

I shrugged. "I suppose."

Chiron exhaled in relief. "Now, Lily Rose, it's getting dark. Head back to your cabin, won't you?"

So I trudged back all alone.


	4. Prophecies

**Chapter Four**

**_ "Prophecies"_**

I got back to find Poison Ivy pacing the cabin room back and forth, muttering under her breath as she did so. Every so often she'd stop in her tracks, reach out and mournfully stroke the burnt part of her hair (which, sadly, wasn't all that obvious), and let out a whimper. Then she'd resume walking, trying to appear, I don't know, _brave_, but failing utterly.

"It's not _really _seen," one of Ivy's cronies, Ursula (who had blond hair that was always piled sky-high on her head) said. "The burnt part, I mean."

Ivy shook her head. "I don't care. That Lily Rose girl is nothing but trouble."

Even though Ivy was at the opposite end of the room, I could still hear her loud, high-pitched voice, so much like a drama queen's.

"_That girl_," Poison Ivy continued, "has to go. _Now_."

Ursula cackled. "Um, yeah, right. Do you really want burnt hair again? Leave her alone for now, Ivy."

Ivy was silent for a moment. Finally she spoke. "You're right, Ursula. I'm just gonna wait for the right time to strike." I could feel her smile thinly and dangerously, like a snake.

But there was no mistaking the fear in her voice. I closed my eyes and went to sleep, with a weird, but sort of satisfied feeling.

* * *

The next day we had classes. I'm not kidding, either. Real classes.

During breakfast I questioned Christie on these classes.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," Christie said, shrugging philosophically, scraping some Froot Loops into the brazier. "I mean, unless you don't like rock-climbing a wall with lava, canoeing, and pegasi. But some of our classes are just, you know, the ones without any action, with desks and blackboards and stuff."

"Oh," I said. I dropped a blueberry muffin into the brazier. _Dear Demeter, Mom, whatever you want to be called, please help me_...

My thoughts, again, were then interrupted by Ivy's high-pitched voice.

"OMG, it's _so _hot out here, I should've brought my beach hat, and my bikini...and...OMG, look, Ursula...!"

"What?"

"I think he's looking at me...he's _definitely _looking at me..."

"Probably..."

I looked at Christie. We rolled our eyes and burst into giggles.

"They are pathetic," I said.

"And immature," Christie added.

We walked to the Demeter table and sat down. I was about to take a big bite of muffin, when I noticed the empty goblet next to me.

"Speak to it," Christie advised, "it'll fill with anything you want!"

I said, "Hot chocolate," and it immediately filled itself up with a rich brown liquid.

Christie raised her own goblet, filled with orange juice. "Cheers to the newbie." We clinked our goblets and drank.

"Not bad," I said admiringly after a sip of the chocolate. "Where does the chocolate come from?"

Christie shrugged. "No idea. It's magic. Speaking of which, did you meet Raven? The daughter of Hecate?"

"Well, yeah," I replied. "In fact, she gave me the tour yesterday."

"Well," Christie continued, dropping her voice, so I was forced to strain my ears to understand her, "some people said she can use black magic."

My mouth dropped open. "Really? Why?"

"Well," Christie said, "she causes bad luck wherever she goes. And her dad was this sort of thief."

I recalled Ivy's words. _Hey, aren't you the one with the deadbeat dad? _"What happened?" I asked.

Christie shrugged. "Apparently her dad held up a bank. Which was pretty stupid of him, because there were a lot of security cameras and stuff. He's still in jail. Her older brother, Rider, joined the Titans in the Titan War. He died. So Raven's now the last of her family. She hasn't got any living relations, so she's a year-rounder at camp."

I gasped. "That's terrible!"

"I know, right? It's just that...not to be mean or anything to Raven...she seems okay at times...Chiron wants to give her a second chance, because who she is isn't what her family's been...but be careful."

I felt sort of mad. "What?! But it's not her fault, that's for sure..."

Christie looked taken aback. "I mean, well, she's been linked with some stuff..."

"Like what?"

"Well," Christie said, "there was this one time last year when my bag disappeared, and the only person nearby was Raven. When I asked her if she saw who took my bag, she mumbled something, turned red, and walked away."

I gaped.

"Plus," Christie added, "Nelly from the Ares cabin lost her knife, and some people saw Raven holding it. I think she's klepto."

"But..." I stumbled over my words. "We shouldn't judge her."

"I know, Lily Rose, I'm just warning you. I mean, I had fifty dollars in that bag."

We ate in silence for a while. My blueberry muffin seemed tasteless all of a sudden.

"We should get going," Christie said. "Dragon and _drakon _class."

"Okay," I said. "Is it fun?"

Christie smiled mischievously. "You'll see."

* * *

"We're gonna have this class with the Apollo cabin," Christie informed me once we were done with breakfast. "Which means..."

"Which means what?" I asked, trudging up the hill to get to the cabin for the class.

Christie sighed. "Which means Ivy Mercer will have a diva moment."

"Huh?"

"Kyle will be there," Christie said matter-of-factly, pushing her blond hair out of her face.

"But..." I hesitated. "Why?"

"Because," Christie said, rolling her eyes, "she's convinced that he's in love with her."

I thought back to the dream I had before._ I forgot how insufferable you can get when you were normal and not thinking of _her, Keira had said to Kyle.

Did he mean Ivy? I couldn't imagine Ivy and Kyle, of all people, together. I doubt Kyle would like someone like her. Someone who was super vain, who dressed in revealing clothes, who bullied other people for fun. Kyle, though I didn't know him all that well yet, didn't seem like one of those jocks who dated girls like Ivy. He seemed much smarter than _that_.

But then again, why did I even care? He could be going out with a scarecrow, for all I care. All I knew was Ivy didn't deserve him.

"Earth to Lily Rose," Christie said. "We're here."

I looked up, snapping out of my reverie. 'Here' turned out to be a nice, loghouse cabin, quite big, with several tables and chairs inside. It didn't seem like a typical classroom, but then again, Camp Half-Blood wasn't very typical at all so far.

"After you," I told Christie, who shrugged and went inside.

She picked a second-row seat. I sat in front of her, directly in front of the board.

By now, more students were piling in. Especially the ones from the Apollo cabin. Ivy marched in (as much as someone can march with heels) with Ursula, blinked her heavily mascara-coated eyes, scanned the room for Kyle, (who had, to my surprise, picked the seat _right next _to me) and _winked_ at _Kyle_.

Yeah, she actually winked.

I frowned, annoyed. Gods, what was _wrong _with her? Did she want to get branded as 'slut' or something?

While I was contemplating how her (slightly burned but still gorgeous) hair would look like if I banged a chair on her head, the instructor came in.

"Good morning!" the man said cheerfully. He was short and plump, and had thin dirty-blond hair that stuck out. A weird tweed suit did nothing for his wide frame, and he smelled like horses—and not in a good way. He reminded me of Humpty Dumpty.

"Good morning!" Humpty Dumpty said again, more forcefully this time, probably hoping for a response.

No one reacted. They all just stared at him. Which made me decide to keep my mouth shut first.

The man, who looked crestfallen, brightened when he saw my face. "A newcomer!" he declared gleefully. "Care to introduce yourself?"

I slumped in my seat, feeling all eyes on me. "Lily Rose."

"Lily Rose! What a wonderful name! Are you ready to learn about dragons and _drakons_?"

"Um," I said, "I don't know." Several people behind me snickered, whether at me or at Humpty Dumpty, I didn't know.

The instructor looked crestfallen—again. "Well, Lily Rose, my name is..." And he turned his back, picked up a piece of white chalk with his chubby fingers, and began scratching out his name in big, round letters.

Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ivy desperately trying to get Kyle's attention. She kept winking at him, running her fingers through her hair, hiking up her jeans, and crossing and uncrossing her legs.

"Miss Mercer, would you like to go to the bathroom?" the man inquired. Apparently he'd finished writing his name on the board—a name which was blocked from my view by his portly frame.

Several people sniggered. I could distinctly hear Christie's high-pitched giggle and couldn't help but smile to myself.

"Well," Ivy drawled, "no."

The man nodded. "I see," he said. "Well, in the future, Miss Mercer, please try to stay put, especially in my class." He finally moved away from the board, and I could see his name—Mister Kostas.

"So," he began, leaning against the teacher's desk, "who can tell me the main difference between dragons and _drakons_?"

No one raised a hand.

He looked disappointed. "Come on," he pressed. "We went through this just the day before yesterday!"

"I don't even remember what I had for dinner last night," went a guy's voice from the back of the room. Several people giggled.

Mr. Kostas sighed. "Alright, class," he said. "The main difference between a dragon and a _drakon_. First of all, a dragon's scales are—"

_Crash_. The teacher's desk Mr. Kostas had been casually leaning against toppled over, probably from his weight.

"Drat," he mumbled, trying to erect the table again. A lot of people laughed.

Mister Kostas took a deep breath, stuck his arms under the table and said, "HEAVE...HO!"

He managed to raise up the table again by an inch or two before it fell—on his fingertips.

"Yowwwwccccccchhhhhhhh!" he screeched, yanking his fingers out from under the table. The room burst with laughter.

"It's NOT funny!" he yelled angrily, red-faced, tears in his eyes. And I don't know why, but I felt a surge of pity and sympathy for him, as he struggled to get up to his feet.

He straightened and smoothed his tweed suit. "Kyle," he said coolly, "I am going to get Argus. Meanwhile, since you're counsellor, how about you keep charge while I'm gone, and since you think you're so gods-damned smart, TEACH THE LESSON?"

Silence.

Kyle, to my surprise, immediately regained his composure—he definitely wasn't one of the students who laughed, and I sort of admired him for that—"Certainly, Sir."

Mister Kostas nodded stiffly, still red.

Poison Ivy raised her hand excitedly, batting her eyes. "Sir, I'm counsellor too, can't I partner with..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the anger on Mister Kostas' face. "Never mind."

Mister Kostas grunted and stomped out the room.

Once he was gone, Kyle turned and faced us. "So," he said, "who wants to know the difference between dragons and _drakons_?"

"You're kidding," I said, unable to help myself, with the words just tumbling out my mouth. "_You're _actually gonna teach?"

Kyle looked at me. "Very funny, Waldorf."

"Well, _I _think he's a _great _teacher," Poison Ivy drawled.

Kyle glanced at her indifferently. I couldn't help smirking at Ivy's reaction—she sort of looked hurt for a while and then managed to hide it. Then she caught me smiling and I swear, steam puffed out of her ears.

"Gods," she hissed angrily, so much that Ursula put a reassuring arm on her shoulder. "You guys make me so _sick_."

"What do you mean?" I widened my eyes innocently (because, seriously, I didn't do anything wrong at all). I faced Kyle's luminous gold eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I think she means," Christie observed, "that she can't stand it when a guy she likes is flirting with another girl." Then Christie's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and she clamped her hand over her mouth.

We were spared the awkward moment when Mister Kostas came in, followed by a tall man _who had blue eyes all over his body._

"Lily Rose," Mister Kostas said, "you're wanted in Chiron's office. Now."

I couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

* * *

I ran to the Big House and rapped hard on Chiron's door.

"Come in," he called out, sounding grave.

I twisted the silver doorknob and peered inside. "Oh...hi...Mister Kostas said you wanted to talk to me?"

It came out sounding like a question.

Chiron nodded gravely. "Ah, yes, Lily Rose. Sit," he said, indicating the wooden chair in front of his desk. He was in wheelchair form again, I noticed. Probably hard to be half stallion in a cramped office.

Feeling like I was being called to the principal's office, _again_, I braced myself and sat down.

"Lily Rose." Chiron stroked his beard, looking troubled. "I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you."

"What?!"

Chiron shook his head. "Lily Rose," he said again. "Remember when I told you about how your gift—growing plants—was extremely strong and rare, even for a child of Demeter? Well, that gift has proved itself, like I said, a curse."

I was frozen in my seat. There was something in Chiron's voice that made my blood run cold, something that told me that there was a problem, bigger than me, something that I could never ever fight off.

Chiron placed both hands on the table. "Have you ever heard of the second Titan War?"

I rubbed my hands together nervously. "Well, yes. Christie told me. The one with..."

"Percy Jackson," Chiron finished. "Yes."

"And..." I said, "what's that got to do with me?"

Chiron shook his head. "Don't you see, Lily Rose? You are a demigod. It has _everything _to do wth you."

"Fine. Now what?"

"Lily Rose," Chiron said, "they want you. The Titans want you."

"_What?!"_

"I have been foolish enough to hide the second half of the prophecy," Chiron continued. "That way, people only thought there was one threat. One way...It was how a certain Olympian wanted it..."

Feeling angry, I snapped, "Well, that's all very well-said—why don't you get straight to the point?"

Chiron sighed. "Very well, Lily Rose. This is the first half of the prophecy." He pulled out a piece of paper and began to read,

_"A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_ Shall reach sixteen against all odds._

_ And see the world in endless sleep,_

_ A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap._

_ A single choice shall end his days,_

_ Olympus to preserve or raze."_

I stared at Chiron. "_That's _the prophecy?"

"The first half. Yes." Chiron paused, white as a sheet. "Here is the second."

_"Demeter's daughter shall appear,_

_ With power so great, causing fear._

_ Five years later, she will decide,_

_ If she'll reveal the one who hides,_

_ So beware Kronos' concealed blade,_

_ That might start the Titans' new Age."_

"WHAT?!" I cried. "That makes absolutely _no _sense!"

Chiron shook his head. "Don't you see, Lily Rose? _You _are the one. Demeter's daughter."

I shook my head. "No. No. It's...not possible." Because it really _wasn't_. I mean, how could this be? All my life, I've been a mortal. And after the initial shock about discovering my true heritage, that my whole entire life had been, well, a _lie_, I have to now get used to _this_. So it can't be true, can it?

"Lily Rose," Chiron said, in what he probably thought was a placating tone, on account of the fact that I was hyperventilating. "It's..."

I backed away from Chiron, causing the chair to topple over. "No. No. I am _not_. I want a normal life. As normal as the life of a demigod gets, anyway."

"Lily Rose, it's not your choice, it's—"

"It _is _my choice!" I said, screaming at the top of my lungs. "NO!"

"Lily Rose!" Chiron bellowed. "Calm yourself!"

But I wouldn't—couldn't. The prophecy. It made ssense. Me. I can't carry that burden. It was just impossible.

I backed away some more. "No. No."

"LILY ROSE," Chiron said, "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE YOU—but, well, you see, it's just..."

I placed a hand on the doorknob. "Give me one good reason why I should stay."

Chiron sighed. "Very well. Lily Rose, the—the Titans—want _you_. To fight. I am not surprised if they knew your exquisite power—they have their ways, you know, magic so ancient and powerful..."

I shook my head defiantly. "Well, they can't make me."

"Yes, they can." Chiron's brow furrowed. "Lily Rose, I'm afraid...your grandmother's been taken as hostage."


	5. An Oracle And A Quest

**Chapter Five**

**_"An Oracle And A Quest"_**

Fear. Worry. Anger. Betrayal. Loneliness. They all were what I immediately felt, emotions coursing through me.

"Wha...what?" I asked feebly, only vaguely aware of the fact that my hand was still gripping the doorknob.

Chiron was looking at me with sadness. "Yes. Yes. I'm so sorry, Lily Rose."

I shook my head. Nana. The one who took care of me, the one who _loved _me, the only one who was actually _paternal _to me in life. I mean, you can't live on friends.

"I need to find her." I looked desperately at Chiron. "I. Need. To. Find. Her."

Chiron sighed. "Lily Rose," he said, "you _do _know that this means going out of Camp..."

"I DON'T CARE!" I shrieked, lunging for him. _"I. Need. To. Find. Her."_

He sighed. "VERY WELL, Lily Rose! But you need to do it...tomorrow."

"WHAT?"

"To get ready. Go to the Oracle, and..."

"And what?" I was dangerously close to Chiron now. "_And what?!"_

He sighed. "You _do _know the Haven twins, don't you?"

"WHAT?!"  
"The Haven twins." Chiron sounded annoyed. "Kyle and Keira."

"Um, yeah, I know them." I looked at him curiously. _What does this have to do with anything?_

"Lily Rose," Chiron was now saying, "you can only go _if _the Haven twins go with you."

I gasped. "WHAT?! Why?!"

"Because, Lily Rose, I promised them. They've been cooped up here for so long. They're year-rounders, you know. And I promised them...any minor quest..."

"But..."

"You shall go on my conditions or not at all, Lily Rose."

"But..."

"Lily Rose, I think it's best that you go." Chiron said that with an air of finality, leaving me no choice.

* * *

It sucked. It sucked big-time.

So I had to get _everything _taken away from me? First, my supposed identity. I was not human, but a demigod. Then, life away from home, life now in camp.

And now this.

As I walked down the worn path of camp, hands in my jeans pockets, only two things mattered in my mind now: Nana. And the quest. In fact, I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I bumped into someone. Or two.

"Wha—"

I looked up. Kyle and Keira stood there. Kyle was grinning, but Keira was staring at me curiously, with some suspicion.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

Finally Kyle grinned. "Chiron just told us," he said. "Are you ready to go to the Oracle?"

* * *

We walked to the Big House together. Well, at least _they _walked. I was dragging my feet.

It didn't help that Keira kept _staring _at me suspiciously, like she couldn't decide whether to trust me or not. I wanted to yell at her, shake her, and tell her that this wasn't my idea, that I _had _to save my Nana, that I wasn't a threat.

But, of course, I couldn't say all _that_. I mean, who even says those? Not to mention that the second half of the Great Prophecy (which, apparently, Chiron hadn't mentioned to them, for obvious reasons) was definitely about, of all the Chosen Ones and whatever in the world, _me_.

Obviously, _I _could be the threat.

Meanwhile, though Keira was shooting me these looks of extreme distrust and disgust, Kyle was actually _grinning_.

Yeah, you got _that _right. Actually _grinning_. He seemed to be unaffected (which he probably was, anyway, but whatever) so much that I wanted to punch him in the face. It just wasn't fair that someone, well, didn't have a problem. Because the male half of the Haven twins certainly felt extremely happy.

To break the awkward silence, I said, "You guys seem really happy to get out of Camp."

"Of course we are," Kyle said.

Meanwhile Keira was still glancing at me dangerously. Finally, when she spoke, "We've been trapped here for too long."

"Oh." I shuffled my feet nervously. "Where are you guys from, anyway?"

You'd think I learned a lesson from Raven: Don't ask personal questions just like _that_.

So the inevitable happened: Kyle's carefree expression faded, and Keira's mouth dropped open.

"I'm...sorry," I said, hastily apologizing. "Um, I guess it's personal, huh?"

To which Keira replied coldly, with a toss of her perfect golden braids, "You have no idea, _mortal_."

I felt heat rush to my face. "I'm not mortal! And why do you have to say it like _that_?"

"Like _what_?"

"Like it's the most disgusting thing in the world, like it's so insignificant, like it's a piece of trash you have to pick up..."

Keira turned to me and glared. "Well, you _are _one. You've been in the mortal world for way too long. And I suppose mortals _do _have their uses, despite being blissfully ignorant. With the Mist, you could just..."

Kyle whistled, hands in his pockets. His expression was still heavily guarded. "I hate to interrupt, but we're here."

I forced myself to look up. Sure enough, there was a rickety staircase leading up.

I tested the steps, placing my foot on the first one. It didn't creak, thankfully, so I guess it was safe.

"After you," I mumbled to them.

With a tiny smile, Kyle started going up the stairs, seemingly without fear, like he didn't care whether or not the steps were going to give.

Keira was next. She took two steps before turning back and saying, angrily, "Well? Aren't you coming, _mortal_? Demigods are supposed to be brave, you know."

"I am," I replied patiently, slowly making my way up.

* * *

In the Big House attic, a dark, dank room, were several piles of boxes, and what seemed to be spoils of war. There were jars of eyeballs, petrified claws, golden pelts, and more. It seemed like a junk museum of Greek mythology. But then again, maybe that was the point. The only light was coming from a half-opened window, which seemed more like a shaft. Only Kyle's gold eyes glowed throughout the darkness.

Suddenly, I heard a yelp. "Eek!"

Keira. She took one step away from whatever she was staring at, bumping into me and stepping on my foot.

"It's just a spider," Kyle said calmly, gently toeing this scuttling, eight-legged thing with his sneakered foot. "You'd think it was Arachne. Plus, you're not a child of Athena."

"Whatever," Keira muttered, shooting me a resentful look.

But I couldn't resist. "Demigods are supposed to be brave, you know."

Keira's eyes flashed dangerously and murderously. Her nostrils flared, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Kyle broke in.

"Rachel's not here," he mused. "Which, if you ask me, is weird. She definitely wasn't in her room when I checked, and I know for a fact that she likes to come here and meditate."

"Here? In this attic?" I said, shuddering. "Who's Rachel, anyway?"

"Gods, is there anything you _do _know?" Keira sneered. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare is our Oracle. Another mortal, but at least she has her uses."

Angrily, I said, "I've only been here for a few days. You can't expect me to know _everything—_"

"Guys," Kyle interrupted. He pointed to a far end of the room, at this lump of a lavender blanket. "I think that's her." He marched over to the lump. "Rachel?"

Then the lump began to move. The blanket fell off, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare emerged.

She had to be about twenty years old. She had frizzy red hair, bright green eyes, and even through the darkness I could see that she had pale, freckly skin. She had on an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and what looked to be paint-splattered jeans. In short, she looked...normal.

"Hey Kyle," she said, grinning. Then her gaze fell over to Keira. "Oh, hi, Keira."

"Hello," Keira said coldly, and it was obvious to me—the two weren't on good terms. I didn't blame Rachel, though. Keira obviously discriminated mortals.

"And I see a new face," Rachel continued cheerily. "You must be Lily Rose Waldorf, am I right? My dad knows your dad, I think."

She was probably just trying to be friendly, but all I replied was, "Okay."

And immediately wanted to take it back. I mean, it's not her fault that I hate my dad.

I tried again. "Yeah...okay." And smiled.

Rachel smiled back. "Now we all know each other!" Then I saw the look in her eyes, and knew. Chiron had told her about the prophecy. Or maybe, since she was the Oracle, she already knew.

"So," Rachel said, "what can I do for you guys?"

"We need a prophecy." Keira spoke stiffly.

Rachel then graciously replied, "Well, okay, let's see..._oh_."

Her eyes began to glow a brighter green. I yelped, getting in return an angry look from Keira.

"It's okay," Kyle said. "It's normal. She's the Oracle, after all."

"But," I said, seeing Rachel doubling up and crumpling to the ground.

"Trust me," Kyle said, "she's gonna be fine."

Finally Rachel straightened and spoke, with horrible green curls of smoke effusing from her mouth, with a voice like, it seemed, three Rachels were talking at once,

_You shall journey home, then to Hades' reign,_

_To rescue a loved one from a deep pain,_

_But yet, with you now, is another friend_

_Another burden you must save again_

_By then, beware, for you'll only be two_

_With another provision to rescue._

"What?!" I cried. "WHAT?!"

Rachel stopped doubling up; the green smoke vanished, and she collapsed on the ground in a heap.

Meanwhile, Kyle was trying to calm me down, without any success. "It's okay, Lily Rose..."

"No, it is not okay," I said angrily. I jabbed a finger at Rachel. "It just doesn't make any sense at all..."

"Crap," I heard Keira said. "You're a real piece of work, aren't you?"

I turned to her in fury. "You're one to talk, you bit—"

"Shut up, the both of you," Kyle said calmly. "Now, I suggest that we leave peacefully. He marched to the staircase and pointed down. "After you, Lily Rose."

And as I marched down, I knew: I was doomed.


	6. Descent

**Chapter Six**

**_"Descent"_**

"So, how'd it go?"

We were the only ones in the Demeter cabin. Apparently Christie's dad didn't want her near pegasi, which was what our cabin was doing. (Or in Ivy's case, being a ****.)

So here I was, staying with Christie, ostensibly because she was all alone, but really because I wanted to rant and brood about...well, everything.

"I know it's a hard time for you," Christie was saying. "But seriously, everything's gonna be alright."

"Yeah. Right."

"How'd the prophecy go, anyway?"

I turned to look at her. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Most prophecies don't make sense at all. Then you go on a quest, and suddenly, everything becomes clear."

I refused to believe this. "Are prophecies even _accurate_?"

"Of course they are."

"Even when they're spewing from someone?"

"Well, yeah." Christie shrugged. "So tell me, how'd the prophecy go?"

I sighed. "It went, 'You shall journey home, then to Hades' reign/To rescue a love one from deep pain/But yet, with you now, is another friend/Another burden you must save again/By then, beware, for you'll only be two/With another provision to rescue'."

Christie was silent for a while. Finally she spoke. "I've heard stranger."

"You have?" I asked, shocked. I mean, the prophecy was so...weird already.

She nodded. "Uh huh. Haven't you heard the prophecies of Percy Jackson?"

"Well...no."

She shrugged. "Well, seriously. They're much worse. How can you sail with warriors of bone?"

"What?!"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? Oh, and by the way, look. It's Kyle Haven."

"Huh?" I marched over to the window in our cabin, and sure enough, Kyle was standing there.

"Be right back," I muttered, and headed outside.

* * *

"What do you want?" I demanded, once I was out.

Kyle looked up from the sword blade he was examining. "Gods, testy, aren't you? I was just going to tell you the plan for tomorrow.

I sighed. "Fine."

"We're gonna leave at 7 am sharp. Argus is gonna drive us."

"What, you mean the guy with eyes all over his body?"

"Well, yes, but don't say that in front of him. He's very sensitive about it."

I sighed. "Got it."

He nodded. "And be sure to bring supplies. Extra clothes, special weapons, a canteen, ambrosia and nectar—"

"Isn't that, _like_, food for the gods?"

Now it was Kyle's turn to sigh. "Yes, but we demigods can ingest it, a little at a time. It immediately heals whatever injuries we have, as long as it's minor—"

"What does it taste like? And how come demigods can only ingest it a little at a time?"

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Kyle sounded amused. "Well, the ambrosia and nectar tastes like a certain food you really love. And we demigods can't eat all the ambrosia and nectar at once, or else we'll literally burn up."

"Yikes!" I said, then silently cursed myself. _Kyle, one. Lily Rose, zero_.

He grinned. "So yeah. Be there or be square." And he rushed off.

* * *

I spent half of the night packing. It was really hard to get all the stuff together, when going on and on in my head was _Nana. Nana. Nana._

"Are you alright?" Christie had asked me, during dinner.

"I'm fine," I lied, staring at my empty plate. _Of course I'm not fine!_

Christie had helped me pack, showing me the ambrosia and nectar rations. Which was good, since I didn't know where my head was going.

"It'll be alright," she said to me reassuringly.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, "because I have to go to the Underworld."

"Well, but..." Christie sighed. "Never mind. Good luck."

"I'm gonna need it," I muttered.

* * *

That very night, I had another dream.

I was standing on a beach at midnight. Waves beat wildly across the sand, and the wind blew so hard that I shivered in my thin _chiton_.

"Hello?" I called out. "Hello? Where am I?"

_Lily Rose_, a voice said.

I whipped around. "Who are you? Hello?"

_Lily Rose, beware on your quest._

"But...who are you?"

_Lily Rose, you do not have to save everyone_.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

And that was when my dream shifted.

It zoomed out of the beach, to the mountains, to the night sky, so fast that I thought I was going to get motion sickness.

And then I saw a boy.

He had to be around my age, or maybe a little bit older. He had a handsome, chiselled face; black hair that fell across his face perfectly; light, flawless skin; and iridescent metallic eyes that were one second silver and the next, gold.

However, he looked exhausted. He seemed to be hiking up a hill or a mountain, and from his expression, he'd been doing it for some time. His dusty white shirt was sticking to his chest, his jeans were stained with filth and grime, and his sneakers looked beat-up, with bedraggled laces.

"Just...a few...more steps," he said, panting. Even exhausted, he had a calm, polite voice. "Need...to get...to Camp Half-Blood."

Then I saw something the boy didn't notice: in the darkness of the night, a huge shadow loomed overhead—some kind of monster, its red eyes glowing.

"Watch out!" I tried to say. "WATCH OUT!"

But, of course, the boy didn't hear me. Until the monster advanced closer, and the boy turned around.

And brandished a sword.

But the monster was too quick, and with a flash of movement, the boy was empty-handed. And the monster in the shadows advanced.

"No!" I shrieked, but it was too late.

* * *

I woke up in cold sweat. It had all seemed so real—too real, in fact, that I figured that it probably _all _happened.

As I sat up in bed, wondering what to do, I noticed something: My supplies were _gone_.

I forced myself not to panic, and quickly looked under my bed, and all over the cabin.

"No. No," I murmured to myself hoarsely. Everyone was still asleep—well, except for two empty beds, belonging to Ivy and Ursula, who usually got up early to primp. Then I checked my watch: 5 am. Still plenty of time to pack, but wasn't there a rule for getting out of bed before curfew? And a punishment from chicken ladies?

"Screw the harpies," I muttered, and rushed out the door.

* * *

As I rushed out in the cold morning air, I registered two high-pitched cackles.

"Let's see how quest girl manages without _these_," I heard a voice say.

_Poison Ivy's voice_.

"Oh, no, they _didn't_," I said to myself, whilst rushing to where the sound was coming from.

Which turned out to be the canoe lake.

Why, why, why, didn't I care to store my supplies in a safe place? Somewhere where Poison Ivy and Ursula wouldn't find it?

"Hey!" I cried angrily, stomping over to where the two were.

While Ursula looked bleary-eyed and tired, Ivy (gods, I hate her) looked wide-awake and glamorous (though I doubt she'd still look as good without her makeup), her mascara already freshly-applied, two coats of lip gloss glistening on her ugly mouth, and her fashionably torn, Speedo-tight, designer skinny jeans on.

"Oh, hey, _newbie_," Ivy spat. "How's it going? Looking for"—she held up my satchel—"this?"

"Give. It. Back." I was so angry, I felt my lungs were about to explode. "_Now_."

"I don't know," Ivy drawled, "because without these, you're dead, aren't you? No matter what you do to me, if you don't have these, you're hopeless." And, cackling, she dropped the satchel into the lake.

"NO!" I said. I had what little ambrosia and nectar the Camp had to offer, money (both dollars and _drachma_) and clothes. Weapons, too—a Celestial bronze sword, newly obtained from the armory.

But, by some lucky twist of fate (knock on wood!), a naiad sprung to the lake's surface, grabbed hold of the bag, and threw it back to me.

I grabbed the pink Cambridge satchel gratefully. "Thank you so much!" I told the naiad, who nodded, smiled, blew water on Ivy, and disappeared.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Ivy screamed, as the water splashed her. Her hair was flattened, her mascara was running, and her designer bag was ruined.

She turned to me angrily. "But _you _can't do anything. Chiron made you promise not to use your power, remember?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "But seeing as how you're drenched, I think my work here is done." And I began marching back to the Demeter cabin, feeling triumphant.

Then I ran into Kyle.

He looked out of breath and sweaty. Running his fingers through his hair, he said, "Change of plans. We're leaving. _Now_."

* * *

The whole car ride from Camp Half-Blood was uneventful; Argus drove the van (which advertised strawberries) , and we just stayed at the back seat.

"Earth to the _mortal_," Keira said. "We're here. In West Chester."

I blinked, snapping out of my reverie. "You mean Westchester." I had been busily thinking how Ivy, luckily, had to go by half the morning looking like a head-on collision between a fashion plate and a nightmare. I hadn't been able to stop smirking since breakfast.

Kyle was the first to step down from the van. "So," he said, turning to me, "we go check your home, _then _the Underworld, am I right?"

"I guess."

Meanwhile, Keira was lecturing Argus. "Make sure you're there when we come out, okay? I don't want to stand waiting forever!"

Argus snorted an affirmative—he didn't speak much, presumably because even his tongue had eyes.

Standing in front of my house, I couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be home, even for just a while. Then I thought of Nana, and my smile faded.

"I'll go secure the perimeter," Keira said, hurriedly rushing off. Whatever _that _meant. I had a feeling she was just eager to get rid of me.

"So," Kyle said, "what to do?"

I looked at him. "I have no idea."

"So...we go in?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." But Kyle was already rushing in the door.

I hurried after him. "Hey!"

"What?"

"Don't snoop, once we're inside."

"I won't. I'm just gonna make sure everything's secure."

"I thought Keira was doing that already."

"She is. The _perimeter_, though."

I sighed. "Whatever. What'd Chiron say, anyway?"

"You mean his words of wisdom for us questing demigods? He said once we're here, wait for a sign. From the gods, or something, before going...you know." And he pointed down.

"A _sign_?" I was flabbergasted. "We're waiting for a _sign_?" For all I know, with my luck, that sign would _never _come. Nana could've been dead by that time. That thought filled me with immediate fear.

"A _sign_," Kyle said, "because, well, of course whoever kidnapped your grandmother will contact _you_. Olympus may be closed, but, well, you know."

I sighed. "This sucks."

"Come on, it'll be—"

And that was when the bushes I had carefully planted outside began quivering.

"What..." I began to say, but Kyle held up a hand to stop me. "Don't. Move. A. Muscle."

As much as I wanted to give a smart-aleck remark to _that_ (hello, the heart _is_ a muscle), I couldn't, because Kyle had drawn out his blade. It glimmered bronze dangerously in the morning sunlight.

That was when something—or _someone_—jumped out the bushes.

I yelped, but Kyle quickly thrust his hand out, grabbing the guy by the scruff of his neck. Grinning, he said, "Got you, you intruder—"

"WAIT. PUT HIM DOWN," I said.

Kyle looked at me like I was crazy. "_What?!"_

"Put him down." And Kyle put the guy down, alright, dropping him onto the ground.

Kyle, meanwhile, was shaking his head, staring at me in utter disbelief. "Why on earth did you want me to do _that_?!"

"Because I know this person." I stared at the guy's familiar brown eyes. "Mark."

* * *

"_Who?!" _Kyle said, the exact time Mark went, "Ouch."

"Mark." I turned to Kyle. "He's my best friend."

"Yeah, right," Mark said. "Did you actually deign to tell your best friend where you went?"

I felt myself turn red. Gods, he was right. Why didn't I tell him? What kind of horrible person was I, to actually forget about my best friend?

Meanwhile, Kyle was staring at Mark curiously. I was about to snap that it was rude to stare, when Kyle said, "He's mortal."

I felt annoyed. "_Of course _he's mortal."

"But we're not." And Kyle looked at me gravely—a look that I couldn't decipher at first, but then I got it. It was a look that said, _We can't just drag him into this_.

I sighed. "Look, Mark," I began, "I'm sorry I didn't call you—"

"For about three days, I might add—"

"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything. It's...just..."

"Oh, give me a break, Lily Rose," Mark muttered. "Did you really think I was _that_ stupid?"

"What..."

"Your Nana told me." Mark sighed. "She said something about demigods. Now, are you gonna tell me the truth or not?"

"But..." All the magnificent lies I had just composed flew out of my head. I turned to Kyle for help.

But all Kyle's eyes said were, _Your choice_.

"Fine!" I sighed. "Okay, Mark. Here's the thing: Kyle and I are _demigods_."

Mark snorted. "_Demigods_. Is this a cult or something?"

"What? No!" I snapped. "I mean, I'm...a daughter of Demeter. And he—" I pointed to Kyle "—is, well, a son of Apollo."

Mark stared.

"I know it's hard to take in," I said, "but I swear on the River Styx, all of these are true."

Mark slowly got up to his feet. Finally, he said, "So you're basically telling me that Greek mythology _exists_?"

"And Roman," Kyle interjected, "but that's another story."

I nodded. "Well, yeah."

"But..." Mark looked confused.

"Only certain mortals can see through the Mist," Kyle said, "and in _your _case, Mortal Boy, you can't."

Mark shook his head. "That's not true," he said hoarsely, "because sometimes, I can."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You _can_?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, sometimes, it appears as a fire or an earthquake. But...sometimes, I can."

I turned to Kyle for help.

"There are many ranges of Sight," Kyle said. "Yours is just semi-clear. Unlike Rachel Elizabeth Dare's, who sometimes sees even better than us demigods."

I took a step towards Mark. "What can you see?"

Mark shook his head. "Horrible, horrible stuff...and _woah_. Who is _that_?"

Kyle and I whipped around. Half-expecting to see, well, a _sign_, all I saw was...Keira.

She was sauntering over to us easily, like a supermodel. Her golden-brown hair was braided fashionably across her shoulder; her big eyes twinkled blue with what seemed to be a gold ring around the centre of her iris; and her tanned skin glowed under the sunlight.

I pieced this together with Mark's expression and got a sinking feeling in my stomach. _No_. He can't like Keira. But Keira, being, what, 5"8 (lucky her—I was only 5"5 and a ½), with looks like those, was...hot, I guess. I immediately felt resentful.

"I've secured the perimeter," she announced. She glanced at Mark. "What's with the mortal?"

Mark, meanwhile, was still staring at her like she was the latest version of his favourite video game. Finally, he said, "I'm Mark."

"Um," Keira said. She looked accusingly at me.

"He's my best friend," I said, by means of explanation.

"Figures," she muttered, then turned to Kyle. "Well? Did you get a sign already?"

"Patience, my young padawan," was all he said in reply. "Good things come to those who wait."

"Well, I'm not waiting forever." Keira looked cross. "Ugh—"

And that was when we heard a sound—like flapping wings.

Kyle grabbed his sword, Keira drew out daggers, and I quickly fished out from my satchel an old bronze knife I had found in the Camp's weapon shed.

"What's going on?" Mark asked, bewildered. "Because I can hear..."

"Shut up, Mortal Boy," Kyle muttered fiercely.

The sound got closer...and closer...and...

"Put down your weapons, heroes," a hissing voice said.

I looked up. "But..."

"Put them down, Lily Rose," Kyle ordered, dropping his sword. Keira dropped her daggers. I had no choice but to follow suit.

Mark looked up, bewildered, and I saw his face pale.

"What?" I looked up, and saw...

"The Three Furies," Kyle said gravely.

Three wrinkled old hags with leathery green-brown skin and flapping wings sneered at us. They had squinty eyes and held lethal-looking whips.

The one in the middle landed in front of us, and cackled. "So, _heroes_," she spat.

Kyle nodded. "Alecto."

"That's right," Alecto hissed, her forked tongue running over her leathery brown lips. "We were sent by Lord Hades, to, well, tell _you_"—she turned to me—"that if you ever want to see your Nana again, well, venture tomorrow into the Underworld during sunrise."

"_Sunrise?" _I cried.

She smiled thinly. "Yes. Sunrise. And Lord Hades sent me to tell you also that, no, it was not _his _decision, but the decision of Kronos."

"But..."

"Kronos still has minions. In Tartarus," Alecto continued. "So be there, young heroes, or else..." She began to laugh, a high-pitched cackle, and she and her sisters flew off.

* * *

I didn't want to sleep that night. I really didn't.

After Kyle had told Argus about the major change of plans, he'd suggested that we stay for the night at my place. Which I was totally fine with, except Mark kept insisting that he tag along.

"You don't have to go," I'd kept telling him. "It's dangerous. Plus, not to sound derogatory and all, but, well, you're _mortal_."

Mark had just stared at me with those brown eyes of his. "Yes, Lily Rose, I do."

Finally, I'd relented and let him go, much to Kyle and Keira's disapproval.

"_The mortal?!_" Kyle'd said. "_Why?!"_

"He's my friend," I said defensively.

In the end, they had no choice but to let Mark come.

And after watching Mark successfully starting a conversation with Keira and Kyle ignoring me, I'd decided to go to bed.

Bad idea. The dreams still came.

* * *

_We are the followers of Kronos. We shall help him with his plan. He shall be resurrected._

"What?" I cried. I was trapped in an abyss, an abyss of darkness, and all I heard was voices.

_We are the followers of Kronos. Beware the son of Kronos._

_ "WHAT?!"_

And, suddenly, a different voice: _Be careful of whom you trust, Lily Rose_.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" I screamed in response.

And then my dream shifted.

It was the boy again. The handsome boy I'd seen the other night in my dreams, still bedraggled, still struggling. Except now he had bruises and scars that definitely weren't there the other night.

Then, a hissing voice, _Suffer, child, suffer._

"No," the boy said. He was climbing up a hill, and he grabbed his sword and slashed at the air.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock; Keira was hovering over me.

"It's rude to hover, you know?" I said sleepily, not bothering to muster up some sarcasm.

Keira didn't share my sense of humour, of course. "Get up. We need to leave _now_."

I reluctantly got up. "Wait. Give me five minutes."

"Ugh, _fine_!" Keira marched out the room.

I quickly ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair. Then I grabbed an energy bar and my satchel and headed downstairs.

Argus and the others were waiting outside. Argus, who was rubbing at his blue eyes sleepily, motioned for the Camp van.

As I got inside, Mark followed.

"Hey." He sounded nervous.

"Hi," I said in response, trying to ignore the fact that he was still staring at Keira.

"So," he said. "Keira told me we were going to the Underworld."

"Uh huh." The Camp van pulled out the driveway.

"Lily Rose. Tell me she's kidding."

"I wish I could, but she's not."

Argus snapped his many-eyed fingers at me.

"I think he wants you to put on your seatbelts," Kyle said.

"Whatever," I replied, but I buckled up anyway.

"Lily Rose," Mark continued softly, "it's dangerous."

"I have to save my Nana."

"You don't have to save _everyone_, Lily Rose."

This reminded me of one of the dreams I had, which annoyed me. "Right. Ha-ha. I'll keep that in mind when you're in trouble."

"I _mean _it, Lily Rose."

Angrily, I turned to him. "She's my Nana. And I love her."

"I know, but—"

Argus grunted. He pointed out the window, and, believe it or not, we were at Central Park.

"How'd we get here so fast?" I asked, shocked.

Kyle, who was riding shotgun, turned to me and grinned. "It's real early, and Argus here knows all the shortcuts."

Argus nodded, looking pleased with himself.

"Still," I persisted, "it's like you used _magic_."

Kyle shrugged. "Maybe. Don't tell Chiron, though." And he got out off the car. We all followed suit.

Central Park smelled like greenery and fresh air.

"Oh, look," Keira said, all sarcastically, pointing at the empty flower beds. "Spring has sprung."

But I ignored her. I felt a sudden surge of power—surrounded by this much plants. I took a deep breath, trying to keep down my rush of euphoria.

"Come on!" Kyle called out, and we followed him to...a nest of boulders.

"What the..." I was speechless.

"It's the Gate of Orpheus," Kyle explained. "It only opens with music."

"Right," I said. "So who's gonna sing?"

Kyle grinned, causing Keira to roll her eyes. "Who said anything about singing?" He then called out, "Leaf!"

Silence. Nothing happened.

He tried again. "LEAF!"

And then suddenly, a gust of wind blew hard, and I found myself staring at the satyr I hadn't talked to in days.

"Leaf!" I cried.

"That's right," Leaf replied blearily. His dark hair was mussed up and wrinkly, as were his clothes.

"Yo, Leaf," Kyle said, "could you play us some tunes on your pipes?"

Leaf sighed. "Alright." And he began playing.

It was a haunting melody, low and sweet. As I listened to it, I could feel my eyelids growing heavy. I watched the others; Mark seemed sleepy, and Keira seemed mesmerized. The only one who was unaffected was Kyle—for what reason, I didn't know.

Then, like magic, the boulders slid open, revealing a passageway and gray stone steps leading downward.

"Thanks, man," Kyle said—but Leaf was already gone.

I turned to Kyle. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Summon Leaf...like _that_."

He grinned. "I have my ways." Then he pointed down the steps. "After you."

I nodded, taking a deep breath. Immediately, I thought about backing out—you know, _was it even worth it? Saving Nana? Putting myself in all this danger?_

What about _me_? Why should it be _me_?

_It doesn't have to be me, right?_

Besides, I was scared.

Then I saw Keira's sneer. _Demigods are supposed to be brave, you know_, she'd said.

And I _was _brave. No matter what anyone else said.

Taking a step down, I began my descent into the Underworld.


	7. Into Hades' Reign

**Chapter Seven**

"_**Into Hades' Reign"**_

My movements echoed across the gray stone steps. I was descending into darkness.

A musty odour came—like soil and earth and what Leaf would've thought was monsters. I could hear the wails of the damned, shrieking wildly; chains and manacles clanking together; and the extremely loud, rough barking of something that seemed like a cross between a monster and a dog. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to move forward.

Right behind me, I heard Kyle. His footsteps, strangely, made no sound. "Keep moving," he said softly. "I don't think they need to know that some of us are scared."

I shivered. "You're right." I tried to stand up straight and forge on bravely.

It was hard, though. Really hard. I kept thinking about Nana—_will I ever see her again? And what about the prophecy_?

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted. "_Oof_," a shrill voice said. "Stop stepping on the back of my foot!"

Keira. Next was Mark's voice. "I'm...I'm...sorry, so sorry..."

"Whatever," I heard Keira mutter angrily. I could practically visualize her flipping her hair angrily, and Mark drooling after her. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and continued forging ahead, the long, spiral staircase making me dizzy.

"How much longer is this gonna take?" I finally asked Kyle, looking back behind me in the darkness. We'd definitely reached the thousandth step.

I could feel his breathing. "Patience. The descent into Hades' reign might take a while. You know, because it's the _Underworld_. And it's not easy to get there. Didn't you read about Greek heroes descending into the Underworld?"

"Well, _yeah_. Though I didn't think much of the Underworld stuff. I...didn't think I'd need it," I responded. _I didn't know Nana'd get kidnapped, and I'd have to venture here just to rescue her_.

Kyle didn't respond. Finally, he said, "We're here."

"Huh?" Then suddenly I stumbled over the last step.

I thought I was going to hit the floor on my head and wind up with a lump the size of Crete, but Kyle held out a hand to steady me. "Easy does it," he said, and let me go.

I shivered from his touch. "Thanks." Then I surveyed my surroundings.

You know what? The Underworld _is _the Underworld. I swear, it is _exactly _what you probably envisioned, right down to the nightmares about blood and hell and gore and all.

When I first stepped down, there had been a loud sound of rushing water. If it weren't for the fact that we were surrounded by darkness and the looming threat of danger in the Underworld, I could've mistaken it for the ocean of Santa Monica beach (Nana took me there last summer. The thought just made me miss her more).

Unfortunately, the sound was coming from my right—where the River Styx was gushing loudly. I was standing on what must be black sand, but felt more like volcanic ash.

"Now, guys," I heard Kyle say. I turned to face him. "Remember to _not _eat any of the food of the Underworld. You don't want to have Persephone's fate—"

The sound of flapping wings interrupted him. I looked up to see the three ugly hags, their faces more wrinkled than ever, smirking down at me.

In a hissing voice, Alecto said, "_Demigods_. Your presence will not go unnoticed in the Underworld." She cackled, and with her sharp talons, picked me up.

"Hey!" I cried. "What do you think you're—"

"Leave it, Lily Rose," Kyle whispered. The other furies picked him and Keira up. "They're taking us to Hades."

"_Lord _Hades," the fury holding Keira (who was glaring at the hag) corrected.

"_Lord Hades_," Kyle muttered. "Alright."

"Wait!" I cried. I craned my head to look at Mark, who was standing at the bottom of the stairwell, looking lost and forlorn. "What about Mark?"

Alecto followed my gaze, and shook her head. "It is already not customary for demigods to enter the Underworld unless they have business with the god of the dead; mere mortals, however, are banned." She licked her tongue over her leathery lips—or rather, mouth. Like a snake, she didn't seem to have lips.

"No," I said stubbornly. "We're taking him."

To my side, I could hear Keira snort and see Kyle roll his eyes.

Alecto responded, "It is not—"

"Fine," another fury—the one holding Kyle—said. "Sister, I've still room for another one."

Alecto frowned. "Very well. But mark my words, Lily Rose, daughter of Demeter, you will regret this." And with a cackle, the Furies took us to Hades.

* * *

Swooping over the Underworld, I could perfectly see _everything_. The Fields of Asphodel, for those who did equal amount of good and bad in their lifetime. Hundreds of souls stood on fields, gaping, for eternity.

Fields of Elysium was next. You could see that it was the place for heroes. Houses of almost every era were there. I could spot Victorian-esque houses, normal ones, mansions that looked like Gothic cathedrals, and more. Spirits were out and about, strolling happily.

Isles of the Blest came after Elysium—and, from my recent reading of Greek mythology, I knew they were those heroes whom, once done with Elysium, chose to be reborn thrice. If they achieved Elysium all those times, they went to the Isles of the Blest. It pained me to see that it was relatively small, that few people would actually deem to do good.

Next was a sore sight. The Fields of Punishment.

It's hell, exactly. Tortured wails rose from the place, and I resisted the urge to cover my ears (not a good idea when you might get scratched my super-sharp talons), the moaning of the damned was _that _unbearable. You could see the pain and suffering on the faces of the dead (not that they didn't deserve it), undergoing their special punishments. I shuddered (as much as I knew that shuddering meant Alecto letting me go meant instant death), remembering Syphilis, forced to push a rock for eternity, for cheating death. Tantalus, for trying to feed the gods his children's flesh. And many more—you could see that the Fields of Punishment was the biggest after-death place.

"How much longer?" I finally asked Alecto.

Her leathery mouth pinched together tightly, emphasizing her lack of lips more than ever. "_Patience_, young demigod," she hissed.

"People keep telling me to be patient," I mumbled. "It's getting rather tedious."

Alecto cackled. "Well, good thing for that, young demigod. Perhaps in the long run, you shall need a bit of patience."

"What do you mean—"

And that was when she dropped me onto the ground, like a sack of garbage she just couldn't be bothered with.

Landing, _hard_, on my butt knocked the air out of my lungs. I was left shell-shocked and silent, staring into space, where the Furies had disappeared. Finally, I gasped and looked around.

A few feet away, Kyle had already recovered from the fall (if he had needed to recover at all), standing up and brushing what looked like ash off his clothes. Nearby, I saw Keira and Mark, who had, strangely, landed on each other.

Looking at them tangled up made my throat constrict. I looked away hastily.

There were several trees surrounding me—spooky looking ones with gnarled branches. There were bright jewel-like flowers, and in front of us, stood a throne...that looked like it was made of human bones.

I shuddered, then turned to the others. "Now what?"

"Now," Kyle said, "we wait for—"

A figure then materialized in the throne, a tall man with stringy black hair that was shoulder-length that contrasted with his pale, albino-white skin. His eyes smoldered dangerously, fire burning within them. A black robe was what he had on, and on it I could see faces of the dead.

"Lord Hades." Kyle knelt down and bowed formally, not after motioning for me to do the same. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Keira nudge Mark to kneel, but I couldn't be so sure.

Hades—sorry, _Lord Hades_—sat on his dark throne, looking down at us amusedly and sort of bored, like we were little wind-up toys. Well, of course, with his being a god and all, and us being just mortals, it was pretty much the same thing.

"_Demigods_," he said, in an eerie voice, spreading his arms out wide. "Well, well, well. Oh, may I ask what you want? Perhaps, maybe, help for a quest...though, I must warn you, I am not _always _generous..."

I balled my fists. "You know exactly want we want!"

Kyle turned to me, his gold stare dangerously bright and warning. Behind me I heard Keira call me '_ilíthios'_—an idiot.

Kyle turned back to Hades, and a winning smile came over to his face. "Lord Hades," he said politely, "I apologize for my friend's actions—she is simply distressed. We would just like to ask—"

"My Nana," I said, taking a step forward, not caring whether the god of death blasted me out of his stinky realm. "Where is she?" And as an afterthought, I added, "_Please._"

At this, Hades thin, foul mouth spread into a dangerous grin. "You're right, young demigod. I _do _have your grandmother. Your _giagiá_." He spoke condescendingly, and snapped his fingers.

A column of yellow flames erupted—right in front of his throne. I had to stand back to avoid getting singed.

And there was—_Nana_.

Nana. She was wearing one of her old flowered dusters, her kind blue eyes opened wide. However, her expressions was as blank as a piece of paper.

"Nana!" I cried, rushing forward to touch her. "_Nana!_"

But then—I can't really describe this feeling—but somehow, I couldn't touch her, but I was. It was like reaching for something to find that it was actually hovering a few feet away from you, like you weren't near enough, like you couldn't judge distance. Imagine standing a few feet away from a doorknob, closing one of your eyes, and reaching out. It would seem like you're touching it, when you actually aren't. _That _was how it felt.

"NANA!" I screamed. I turned to Hades in anger. "What did you do to her?"

He casually checked his fingernails. "Nothing. Metamorphysis."

"_What?_"

"She will not be harmed," Hades then continued, "if you do what I say."

I turned to the others. Their gazes were fixated on Nana. Then, slowly, one by one, they all turned to me and nodded.

"Fine," I said.

He grinned horribly. "I have two favours to ask of you—"

"Hold on," I cut in. I knew it was wrong to strike bargains with a god, but I didn't care. "You're only returning Nana. We'll only do one thing."

Behind me, Keira said, "Oh, my gods. You _are _crazy—"

"Lily Rose has a point," Kyle interjected bravely. He turned to Hades. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We're only doing one favour."

Hades' lips curled back in disgust. His eyes glowed brightly, like coals of a fire. I was so afraid he'd blast us out of his realm and kill Nana, but finally he said (gruffly too, I might add), "Very well, young demigods." He paused. "I want you to convince him."

"_Who?_" I cried.

"My son." For a split second, Hades looked...uncomfortable. Then he resumed his godly stare. "Nico di Angelo."

I stared—no, gaped—at him. "Nico di Angelo," I repeated.

"Well," Hades said, haughtily, "yes."

I looked at Kyle for help.

"Nico di Angelo," he supplied, "is a demigod son of Hades. He fought in the Titan War. Technically, he is almost at his eight decade. But in reality, he's only nineteen."

"_What?"_

"You will fetch him," Hades said, "and tell him his father, who has authority over him, of course, wants to discuss something with him. I need him...to do my bidding."

Silence for a while. Finally, Keira coughed. "_Excuse me_, Lord Hades, but..."

"But what?"

"But, well, since I doubt you're powerless and all...you're a _very _powerful god, of course..."

"Indeed I am," Hades conceded.

"...So can't you, like, _make _him come to you?"

At first I was kind of mad that Keira was questioning Hades—but then again, I'm one to talk for being disrespectful. However, I doubt Keira didn't sense that Hades wanted _something_...from us.

Hades' nostrils flared. "Well," he began carefully, "in Greek myths, it is the demigods who usually do it, isn't it? For indeed we gods are forbidden to seek out—"

"That's enough," I said. Then, "We'll do it. Only we don't know where Nico is. Plus, don't the Titans—"

"Enough of the Titans," Hades sighed. "It was merely to get you here fast."

"_What?!" _I seethed with anger. "You _tricked _us?"

Hades regarded me coolly. "I believe, young demigod, it is not your place to go around accusing me of such matters."

"We don't even know where Nico is," I argued.

"Ah." Hades sighed. "Well, demigods, it _is _your quest—my clever son has succeeded in shrouding himself from me—a god, his father!"

"WAIT," I said. "No. We can't. You never said—"

"Too late, young demigod. You agreed. It is not a Styx oath, but you _are _demigods on quest, and accepting it is binding."

"But..."

"No buts, young demigod, if you want to see your Nana again."

That shut me up, alright. Seeing this, I saw Hades' lips curl back into a cruel smile...

"Never fear," he continued, "for the Furies will guide you..."

And just like that, the Furies materialized.

"Now," Hades said, "go on your little quest. And if you want to ever see your Nana again, well, I want my son back after _a week_."

And with a flick of his hand, the Furies, Kyle, Keira, Mark, and I all vanished from his reign.


	8. Finding Nico

**Chapter Eight**

**_"Finding Nico"_**

"Hades. Is. An. Idiot," I muttered angrily, kicking a rock with every syllable. We were in Central Park-where the stinking God of the Dead decided to leave us.

Mark fidgeted nervously. "Erm, Lily Rose, I don't think we should use _that _word to describe him. He seems really powerful to me."

"Oh, who cares, Mortal Boy?" Keira snapped. "Hades was just cruel. And why does he want us to bring him Nico, anyway? Plus lying about the Titans!"

Mark looked wounded. "I didn't mean—"

"No, it's okay, Keira," I said. Maybe Keira wasn't really bad after all, despite the fact that she had something against mortals. "It's just…how could he do that? Kidnap Nana. Lie that it was because the Titans needed me for battle. What kind of mad psycho even does _that?!" _I blinked hard, and stared at the bright sun to help stop the tears.

Looking around, I realized it was around eight o'clock already. Puzzled, I was just about to ask about it when Kyle, as if reading my thoughts, spoke up.

"Time is sometimes different in the underworld," he explained nonchalantly. "No one knows why, though. But it's never too much of a difference that you somehow pop into another century altogether."

"Oh," I said, in a small voice.

Keira sighed theatrically. I braced myself for a barrage of complaints.

But somehow, when Keira opened her mouth to whine, instead she said, "So, what are we going to do next?"

This caught me off-guard. It wasn't like Keira at all, definitely not the one I had been associating with for the past few days.

Maybe Keira could be a different person. Or maybe she was the same all throughout, and I just didn't see it. Maybe there was a deeper being buried beneath the pretty, rebellious teenager facade. And I respected her for that.

And maybe we were all a team.

"Good question," I said. I faced my three friends. "Where _do _we begin?"

* * *

"It'll work," Kyle reasoned.

"No, it won't. This is madness. No, I take it back, madness is too harsh. Plus how sure are you that it'll work?"

"Trust me on this. I'm usually right—ninety-nine per cent of the time, anyway."

"I'll slap you in the face if this turns out to be the other one per cent."

"Don't worry, it won't be."

"I might regret this. I have a very strong feeling that I will regret this. Or we're wasting time."

"Do you want to find your grandmother or not?"

That shut me up, alright.

We had taken a cab to a certain apartment—the exact whereabouts of which I have decided not to reveal, lest the person inhabiting it gets attacked by demons, or becomes a monster's lunch.

We were paying a visit to Percy Jackson.

Somehow in the back of my mind I had a feeling he wouldn't know where Nico was. But Kyle had convinced me.

"He _obviously _told a friend of his—a trustworthy one, anyway—where he was hiding," Kyle'd insisted. "And that friend might as well be Percy Jackson."

I'd sighed heavily. "Were they really _that _tight?"

"Well. No. I guess a bit. Not entirely worthy of a bromance, but yeah, they were good, they were good."

So when the cab arrived at an apartment building, I was more than ready to step out, my heart beating loudly, and to take a step in saving Nana.

Kyle handed the cabbie a hundred-dollar bill. He deserved it, too, for upholding the long-suffering air while driving four passengers (it is, for your information, against the law).

The taxicab sped off, and all four of us walked to the doorway of the apartment.

It was ordinary enough for a New York apartment. A gray concrete building. Nothing too fancy, nothing too shabby. I was feeling pretty confident—no, _hopeful_, because confident is too strong a word and might bring bad luck—until I saw the doorman.

The _mortal _doorman.

I swore under my breath—a really bad word that starts with an _s_—and turned to face Kyle, who, to my surprise, was _grinning_.

"_Why are you smiling like that?_" I hissed. "How're we gonna get through _him_?"

Kyle's grin only grew wider. "Never underestimate the power of the Mist."

Kyle headed to the dude with a swagger. And as soon as the doorman dude clapped eyes on him, he went in full-security mode.

"Visitors?" he asked sceptically, smoothing his slightly-grimy gray suit.

Kyle smiled angelically. "Yes, sir."

The doorman snorted. He was lanky and pale and seated behind a counter. "Visitors. No one told me anything about visitors."

And that was when Kyle snapped his fingers. It echoed loudly across the modest lobby, and unless my mind was playing tricks on me, a wind came rushing in, through the half-open glass doors.

Kyle continued to smile. "Oh, we're visitors alright, sir," he said. "Of Percy Jackson."

I was gonna pull Kyle out and knock some sense into him for thinking the guy wouldn't call his bluff, when the doorman suddenly straightened up, scrunched his forehead, and went, in a normal yet creepy tone, "Ah. Yes. Visitors of Percy Jackson. Eighth floor. Room thirteen."

"_Thank you_, sir," Kyle said, shooting Keira, Mark, and I smug looks over his shoulder. Then he led the way to the elevator.

"How'd you do that?" I asked, trying not to sound _too _impressed, once we were in the elevator.

Kyle chuckled. It was Keira who answered for me.

"It's a little trick Chiron shows some campers," Keira explained. "Duh. The Mist. It fools most mortals. It can even fool some demigods."

"Thanks," I muttered. Huh. Maybe diva Keira wasn't gonna go away all at once. "How'd you get Percy Jackson's address, anyway?"

In the dim elevator light, I could've sworn Kyle blushed. "I have my ways."

I turned and faced him, hands on my hips. "You're a stalker in fake Reeboks."

"They're real. And I am _not_."

"Yeah you are."

"Almost every demigod is taught to follow the fearless example of Percy Jackson," Kyle went on in exasperation. "Am I right, Keira?"

"Oh, I don't know," Keira replied, examining her French-manicured nails (_how _does she maintain _those _if she's off battling monsters all the time?) "I aspire to be better than him. And also I don't think I need his address.

We laughed. Even Mark, who had looked rather forlorn, mustered a smile.

_Ding._

Kyle looked relieved. "We're here."

We found the thirteenth door easily. It was the last one down the right hall. I took a deep breath and rang the buzzer.

I was about to press the buzzer again, when the door was suddenly opened.

"Hey," the person who answered the door said, "what can I do for you?"

Some instinct told me that this guy was Percy Jackson. He was tall, around college-age, with black hair, pale skin, and bright green eyes. He was surprisingly cute.

Bracing myself, I stuck out my hand. "Hi, I'm Lily Rose Waldorf. And this is Kyle…Keira…Mark…and, um, we're a bunch of demigods…and mortals, I suppose…and we need your help."

Percy looked alarmed. "I didn't steal that lightning bolt."

"We know!" I said hastily. "It's just…" I looked at my friends for help.

Thank the Gods Kyle spoke up. "Mr. Jackson, we hear that you're friends with…Nico di Angelo?"

At the sign of Nico's name, Percy Jackson tensed. Maybe he thought we didn't see it, but we did. "Yes?" he responded in a clipped tone.

"Well," Kyle continued, "we need to find him."

"Please, Mr. Jackson," I said. "Really. We do. Or else—" I stopped when I saw Percy's expression. "Um, Mr. Jackson, er, are you alright—"

Because Percy Jackson did not look happy. He looked like he was going to slam the door in our faces.

My heart sank. _My only chance. Gone. _How was I going to find Nana now?

But then, to our surprise, Percy Jackson just sighed dejectedly, opened the door a little wider, and said, "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in, guys. I have a feeling," he continued in an ominous voice, "we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

We trailed in the small apartment unsurely, our footsteps muffled on a worn gray rug. Percy locked the door behind us.

The inside of the apartment looked ordinary—so ordinary that a mortal might've lived in it. There was an old gray couch, pushed up against plain white walls. There was an old TV, and an Xbox underneath. A narrow hallway led from the living room to another room—probably Percy Jackson's bedroom.

But then I looked closer, and realized that the room maybe wasn't that ordinary after all. There were tiny picture frames hanging on the walls, old-looking sepia-toned ones that should've held pictures of relatives or whatever, but actually depicted Greek myths, it seemed. I could make out the Minotaur and the Hydra, and something that looked like a flying horse. Pegasi?

"So." Percy Jackson turned and faced us. "Why do you need to find Nico di Angelo?"

I gulped. "Well," I said carefully, "Hades—"

"Never liked him," Percy said immediately. "He sucks." Then, seeing my expression, he hastily said, "Sorry. Go on."

"So yeah." I took a deep breath. "He kidnapped my Nana. My grandmother. And he won't give her back until we find Nico di Angelo for him. The deadline is by the end of the week."

Percy was silent. So silent that he seemed to have become a statue. Finally he lifted his head, and to my surprise, there was a look in his eyes…understanding?

He spoke softly. "Metamorphysis?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

His mouth set in a thin, grim, line. "I know. My mom…Hades got her once, too. When I was twelve."

My mouth dropped open. "He did?

"Yup." Percy nodded. "Which is why I'm gonna tell you where Nico is."

"You _know _where he is?" Keira asked.

Percy nodded again. "Well, yes. I mean, I know where he is. But I can't exactly take you there."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Well," Percy said cautiously, "there's something Hades wants from Nico."

"Yeah," Kyle said, "it's really suspicious, you know, how he needs to find Nico. He says Nico 'manage to shroud himself from him'.

"That's right," Percy said. "Nico is in…Camp Jupiter"

My eyes bulged at that. "Camp _what?"_

"Camp Jupiter," Kyle explained. "It's the Camp for Romans."

"Yes." Percy looked sorrowful. "He's gone and hidden himself there. Oh, and I wouldn't bother asking where he is," he said. "Camp Jupiter is big. And it's likely he didn't reveal to anyone he was staying there."

"Wait." My heart was racing. "Where is Camp Jupiter?"

"It's in California," Kyle said. "San Francisco, to be exact."

"But…" I gulped. "How're we gonna get there?"

Percy grinned. "Never fear. I thought _that _one out."

"Huh?"

"You guys can shadow travel," Percy said. Then he turned and called out, "_Mrs. O'Leary!"_

"What—"

Percy whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary! Come on here, girl!"

_THUD. THUD. THUD._

The whole apartment shook. I could hear gigantic footsteps—like some _monster _was going to show up…

And a huge black dog bounded up to us, so enormous it was a wonder the floor didn't give way below us. The dog had shaggy hair covering its beady eyes, and wagged its tail excitedly.

Keira screamed. "What the _hell _is _that_?"

Percy looked offended. "Mrs. O'Leary," he said, "is my pet hellhound."

"You have a hellhound?" Kyle said incredulously.

"Well, yes."

"Where'd you get it?" I said, checking out the gigantic pet.

Percy grinned. "Long story, involving many close calls with death and a hell lot of squeaky toys."

I turned to look at Mark. He seemed scared out of his wits, and desperately trying not to show it.

Meanwhile, Percy was explaining to Kyle and Keira on how Mrs. O'Leary would take us. "Shadow travel. Just tell her where you guys wanna go. Be careful, though. Shadow travel tires her a _lot_."

"But…" I hesitated. _Shadow travel? What?_

Percy looked me in the eye. "Lily Rose Waldorf," he said seriously, "I know this can be hard."

I swallowed and nodded.

"Look," Percy continued, "if you're just gonna sit around doing nothing, you won't rescue your Nana. Be brave. Promise you'll be brave."

I nodded again. "I promise."

Percy seemed satisfied. He motioned for us to mount the hellhound.

"Hey, girl," Percy whispered, into Mrs. O'Leary's massive ear, "take them to Camp Jupiter, okay?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked happily. It bounded up to a wall.

I thought we were going to hit it, and crash. But before we could, we passed into dark shadows, colder than the ninth circle of Hell.


	9. Romans

**Chapter Nine**

**_"Romans"_**

Shadow travel. Who knew it'd be so fun?

We raised through the darkness, the four of us and Mrs. O'Leary, feeling the coldness of the shadows tickle the backs of our necks. We hung on for dear life on Mrs. O'Leary's massive coat—until she bounded out from the shadows, panting loudly, and collapsed to the ground.

Needless to say that we collapsed with her.

"Ah," I said, feeling the breath go out of me. I looked around. "Everyone alright?"

I heard the muffled 'yeahs' of the rest. I took this as a good sign, and finally stood up.

"Where are we?" I wondered aloud.

"San Francisco," Kyle said, getting up too. "Home of the Roman camp."

I shook my head. "I don't get it," I said. Behind me, I sensed Mrs. O'Leary jumping into the shadows again.

"Get what?"

"This business with Romans and Greeks. And why they, well, have separate camps."

"Greece," Kyle said, "was, to put in simply, conquered by Rome. The Greek gods were modified to suit the Romans afterwards."

"What do you mean, 'modified'?"

Keira jumped in. "Rome was more disciplinarian. They took everything seriously. Like, you know Dionysus, right?"

"God of wine," I said immediately, remembering my research.

"Exactly. His Roman form, Bacchus, was way more strict and militarian. I guess you could say the Romans were party poopers."

"Hush," Kyle said. "The gods are listening."

"Olympus is closed," Keira muttered, "and hopefully they're all in Greek form right now."

Suddenly, Mark moaned. I turned to see him get up, with much difficulty. "I…have no idea what you guys are talking about," he said weakly.

"And no one cares if you don't know, _mortal_," Kyle said with relish.

"Hey!" I turned to face Kyle angrily.

"What?" Kyle looked bored.

"Don't you go insulting my best friend like that," I snapped, "or you'll be the next one to go up in flames. After getting wrapped by vines, of course."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Sure."

I sighed. "Okay, so where's Camp Jupiter, anyway?"

"Right there," Kyle said, with a hint of smugness, pointing towards a cluster of trees surrounded by a river. "Concentrate hard if you want to see past the Mist."

I squinted, trying to peel away the invisible layer of magic that supposedly hid the camp. I scowled. "I don't see anything."

"Look harder," he insisted.

I sighed and tried again. I could just barely make out a tiny entrance.

"Jeez," I said. "Romans. Not very friendly, are they?"

"You said it," Keira muttered.

"Enough," Kyle said with a commanding air. "We just need to learn how to cross the river."

"It looks pretty shallow to me," I said, rushing to the winding clear ribbon of water.

"Lily Rose, wait," Kyle called out, and suddenly he was standing behind me, grabbing my arm before I could go any further.

I looked at him, all annoyed. "What do you think you're—"

"Lily Rose. The _river_."

I don't know, but his tone of voice made me examine the river more closely.

What I saw made me gulp.

The river, despite being shallow (if you count waist-deep as shallow) had hundreds of jagged rocks dotting the ground. The river water too, up close, was murky and stank of something—like rotten worms and leaves.

I took a step back, feeling my face pale. "You're right. How're we gonna cross it?"

Kyle shook his head. "Something is wrong. I mean, the Romans aren't all that friendly, but well—the river Tiber is supposed to be clear. Otherwise, how would demigods get across it?"

"Maybe it's a test," Keira said, "for demigods."

"Or maybe it's a test," I whispered, "for us."

Kyle shook his head. "Think about it, Lily Rose. Hades kidnapped your grandmother. He made us go look for his son, Nico di Angelo. Do you think he did that because he wanted us to find his son? And if he did, then what do we have that's so special that we could locate Nico?"

"You're right," I said. "_Why _would he kidnap Nana? I mean, he also lied about that whole thing when a Titan kidnapped Nana…and he ended up wanting us to get his son…"

"And Olympus is closed," Keira said, finally catching on.

"When Olympus is closed," Kyle mused, "it means there's trouble, usually. And all these don't mean that much, I know, but I get the feeling that something bigger than us is at work here."

I shook my head. "It's so unfair!"

"No one said life was fair, Lily Rose," Kyle said angrily.

I turned to him, annoyed. "Oh, thanks _a lot _for that. But I need help in crossing the river!"

"Help?" a voice said from behind me. "You need…help?"

I froze. Slowly, I turned around to face…a woman.

But she wasn't just any ordinary woman. This, I could tell—she had this aura around her, an aura of power.

She would have been pretty, had she not been so pale. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, but a deathly white colour—kind of like paper. Her eyes were big and greenish-gray, with whites the seemed to glow unnaturally and a cloud of brown hair wafted around her small face. She was rail-thin, too—her plain white Greek chiton hanging off her bony figure. When she moved, she gave the impression of being translucent—as if she were a spirit.

"I am Amechania," the woman said dreamily, staring straight ahead, "the spirit of helplessness. Alas, those great poets, they write about me no more, and I fear that as the time passes by, I shall be forgotten and blotted out—much like how Pan was, years ago. But I am willing to help, if it means I shall be remembered."

"You're the goddess of _helplessness_," Kyle said incredulously, "and you want to _help _us?"

I shot Kyle a _shut-up-or-I-swear-I-shall-send-a-bunch-of-giganti c-Venus-flytraps-to-munch-on-you _look.

"Lady Amechania," I said, all politely, hoping to sound formal, "thank you for offering. And yes, we do need some help."

Amechania smiled. She was really eerie, I thought, her light eyes too bright and too unfocused, but if she was going to help us, well, I didn't mind. Not at all.

I thought she was going to use her godly powers to construct a bridge or something, but then…she started babbling.

"Ah, demigods," she mused, staring off into space, an odd little smile on her pale face, "on a quest. They remind me of those ancient heroes—those the poets wrote about, the very same poets that used to write about me…" Her voice trailed off.

Kyle immediately cut in. "We need your help, Lady."

"Ah, yes. Of course." For a split second Amechania frowned, then smiled that little smile again. She waved a hand, and suddenly we were transported onto the other side. I felt my satchel become more heavy, and when I looked inside, I found all sorts of helpful materials—toiletries, sandwiches, drachmas, mortal cash, and more. I looked around and saw that the others had the same. Kyle even had a folded-up tent in his hands.

I turned to thank Amechania. "Thank you!"

But I was speaking to empty air. The spirit of helplessness was already gone.

* * *

"I don't know," Kyle said, "but I don't think that Amechania really wanted to help us."

I felt annoyed. "Why not?"

"Well, for starters, she's the spirit of helplessness—I mean, you know. I don't think she needed to do it. Like, what's in it for her?"

I shook my head. "What, people can't be nice without wanting something in return anymore?"

"I'm not saying that," Kyle said, trudging up the hill. "It's just…well, not much people are like that. Plus, she's a _goddess._" He paused ominously. "Sooner or later there will be a catch. Count on it."

"Hmph." I hiked up in silence.

Finally, Keira spoke up. "So…"

"So what?" I asked.

"Well." Keira flicked her golden-brown braid over her shoulder. "How do we, you know, find Nico di Angelo?"

"Oh." I felt suddenly helpless. "I don't think we can ask around, like what Percy Jackson said, so…"

Kyle's eyes lit up. "I have an idea."

We all turned to him. "What?" I demanded.

Kyle grinned. "Well, Lily Rose, you have special powers, don't you?"

"Well, yes…" I said cautiously.

"You can use your power to your advantage now."

"_What?!_"

"I think," Keira murmured, "he wants you to get us over inside Camp Jupiter with a tree or something."

I looked at them both. "Are you _insane_?_!_"

"It's worth a try." Kyle shrugged.

"Not to mention suicidal," I pointed out.

"Lily Rose," Keira said, sounding exasperated. "I mean…I'm pretty sure you can make _vines_, right?"

"Well, yes."

"Then just loop us up in the air in them until we're in Camp Jupiter." Kyle looked at me sharply. "It's our best bet, under these circumstances."

I sighed. "Okay, okay."

"We should wait until dark," Keira mused to Kyle.

"No shit, Sherlock. That's when everyone'll be asleep, right?"

"You can be _so _annoying sometimes. But, yes."

"I'm willing to bet that our safest time to go is 10 pm. No disciplinarian camp will let them stay up late. Just be on the lookout for…"

"Lookouts?" I guessed.

Kyle smiled, a crooked grin. "Yup. In the meantime, we can try out your crazy plant powers."

"I'm not sure this is gonna work," I said.

"Oh, don't worry," Kyle said. "It's the _mortal_, anyway."

"Hey!" Mark called out, red-faced.

We'd decided to make Mark our lab rat for Project: Sneak Into Camp Jupiter. I was in the midst of summoning vines to transport Mark over small distances at a time.

Mark took a deep breath. "Go on. I trust you, Lily Rose."

"Thanks." I closed my eyes, and concentrated.

_Vines. Vines. Vines_, I thought. Vines that would loop themselves around Mark—gently, of course—and transport him a few metres away.

When I opened my eyes, I could see a bunch of thick, green _things_—emerging from the ground. They quickly wrapped themselves around Mark, grasping him tightly. They grew and grew, and suddenly, Mark was being moved.

"It works!" I said, in disbelief.

"Great," Kyle said. "Now all we need to figure out is how to _find _Nico."

Keira shrugged. "I say we split up once we get inside. Me and Kyle, Lily Rose and the mortal."

"Good idea." Kyle nodded approvingly. Then he grinned. "So, who wants to help setting up tents?"

* * *

After a dinner of delicious BLTs, we settled into comfy sleeping bags (we'd given up on the tents—they were a last resort in case of rain) and tried to sleep. We'd take turns on being the lookout, and a stopwatch was set for 10 pm. I say settled, instead of slept, because I just couldn't. Sleep, I mean. I kept thinking about how if I didn't find Nico di Angelo, Nana would be…dead.

And it would be all my fault.

I felt a sudden surge of anger, anger for the gods, anger for myself, anger for Nana, even. It was all so unfair!

Plus, when I finally fell asleep, dreams came.

And I'm pretty sure I've mentioned why and how demigod dreams sucked.

This dream was no exception.

There was that boy again. The handsome boy, the one from all my other dreams—dark-haired; luminous, iridescent, and metallic eyes; a fine, angular profile; and a sort of _look _to him—the look of a hero, a Greek god.

But there was a difference now. To the side of his handsome face was a tiny mark—was it a scar or a birthmark?—that was sort of pale, shaped like…an omega sign.

And as if that weren't completely bizarre, the dude was slumped on the ground. His clothes were grimier than ever, and he looked exhausted. He closed his eyes.

For some strange reason I got this _gut feeling _to wake him up.

"Hey," I said. "Wake up."

The boy groaned but didn't answer.

"Wake up!" I said, louder this time. "It's no use, being a layabout. Wake up!"

The boy stirred. Finally, he muttered, "Who are you?"

I tried answering, but I couldn't. _Who was I_?

I've always figured I was Lily Rose Waldorf. The mortal. That straight-A student who wasn't a nerd. That girl who everyone whispered was _Archibald Waldorf's daughter. _A granddaughter, to Nana—Nana, the only mother I've ever know, the only mother I'd ever experienced having. The best friend of Mark. The girl who hailed from Westchester, New York. The girl who was anything but a demigod.

But in less than a week, _all had changed._

I was Demeter's daughter now. And I was on a quest.

"Who are you?" the voice pleaded. "_Who are you?!_"

And everything went swimming into darkness. I screamed, dizzy with fright.

"Get up!" the voice said. "Who are you?"

I felt something on my leg—like I was being prodded…by a stick?

So I opened my eyes.

I found myself staring straight into the eyes of a Roman soldier.


	10. To Outsmart A God

**Chapter Ten**

**_"To Outsmart A God"_**

"Put your hands up," the Roman soldier said, "and don't move."

I put my hands up. I could see the others were awake, too, scrambling up and doing the same.

"We mean no harm," Kyle said.

The Roman soldier guffawed. He was holding an extra-long sword in one hand—it didn't look like Celestial bronze, though. It was more yellowish in hue, and reminded me of a gold bracelet I had when I was seven. In his other hand was a torchlight—not that it was effective. In the dark, the flickering flames didn't reveal much, and half of everyone's face was cast in shadow.

"I think you _do _mean harm." The soldier grinned. He was partly dressed in war clothes, gold breastplate, helmet, and some fancy purple cloak thing. Underneath all that, he seemed to be wearing a shirt and jeans. "Or why else would you dare to venture out here?"

"We can explain," Keira said hastily.

"Yeah," Mark said. His mouth was set in a firm line; I don't think I've ever seen him that brave. He seemed to be rubbing at his finger, and I realized the Roman soldier had cut him. Which made me furious.

It reminded me to be brave, too.

"Look," I said, stepping forward, hands still up. I brought down my right hand slowly, lowering the soldier dude's deathly long blade (which I just realized was what he had used to prod me awake—no wonder Mark was cut). I tried for an earnest, firm voice. "We don't want to hurt anyone. We're…demigods on a quest, you see."

The Roman soldier, who I realized was probably a couple years older than me, like college age, narrowed his eyes. In the dim light, I couldn't tell the exact colour of his eyes—just that they were probably dark.

"You won't mean any harm," they guy said. "Then what are you doing here?"

I cast a quick look over to my quest mates. _Should we tell him or not?_

Kyle took a deep breath and said, "We're…looking for a guy."

The Roman soldier frowned, and unless it was my imagination, looked even a bit scared. "Who?"

Kyle pressed his lips together. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry, but that's confidential information."

"And I'm sorry, but you're coming with me," the Roman soldier said, taking Kyle by the arm. The guy's eyes fell to Kyle's biceps. "Wait a minute," the Roman soldier said. He quickly grabbed Kyle's other arm.

"Hey!" Kyle cried, snatching his arm back. He looked annoyed. "Just what do you think you're doing? I said we mean no harm, okay, man? We might not come with you—"

"You said you were demigods!" the soldier cried. He pointed an accusing finger at Kyle's arms. "Unless you haven't been to Camp, where're your tattoos?"

"We're from the other camp," Keira intervened. "The _Greek _one. Camp Half-Blood. Which," Keira continued, muttering darkly, "doesn't painfully ink their campers' skin with weird tattoos."

"I heard that!" The guy looked angry. "Look, you're coming with me, okay?"

Thunder boomed overhead.

"Looks like Zeus isn't happy," Keira said in a singsong voice. "Isn't that any indication that you've got to let us go?"

"Hey!" The guy scowled. "It's spring. It's typical for rainy weather. That doesn't mean Zeus—"

"Hold up." Kyle's firm voice cut through the bickering. Up above us, thunder boomed again. "You said Zeus."

The Roman guy turned to us. "So what?"

It started to drizzle, then. "Crap," I heard Mark mutter, wiping at his glasses.

Kyle continued. "You're the first Roman guy who's called Zeus, well, _Zeus_. Instead of Jupiter."

There was silence after that. Then, angrily, the Roman guy said, "Well, that's what you Greeks call him, am I right?"

Kyle grinned. The rain fell, harder than ever, soaking us from head to toe. The plumage on the guy's helmet drooped. "Exactly," he said. "_You _called him _Zeus._ You didn't stop to correct us." His grinned stretched wider. "Not very Roman, are you?"

"Are you accusing me of—"

"Yup." Kyle nodded.

"You're not a Roman soldier," Keira interjected gleefully. "Which means—"

"You've no right to take us," Mark said. We all turned to him in surprise—it wasn't like him to speak up. Maybe he was coming out of his shell.

The Roman guy's nostril's flared. "I will not—I _am_ a Roman! In fact, here's my tattoo!" He thrust out his upper arm. It was thin but toned, yet it had black markings on it—sort of like a bar code, letters, and an…eagle? I squinted to see it properly in the dim torchlight, which was quickly dousing out.

"Flashlight," Kyle instructed. He snapped his fingers. "Right now, Mortal Boy."

"Hey!"

"It's with you." Kyle snapped his fingers again. "Hand it over."

Muttering darkly, Mark handed the flashlight over. Kyle switched the light on and shone it directly on the guy's glistening arm.

The Roman soldier looked triumphant. "See? My Roman tattoo. Now, you Greeks—"

"Whoops." Kyle reached out to scrub the guy's arm, which was glistening wet, thanks to the rain.

"Hey!" the Roman guy cried. He sounded actually terrified.

"Charade's over," Kyle said smugly. He folded his arms over his chest. "You didn't think it would rain, did you? Not when you were 'patrolling' about the outskirts of Camp Jupiter, with that fake tattoo and ridiculous Roman soldier costume. Your cape's even askew. It's not even draped right."

The Roman soldier's mouth gaped open. Finally, he said, "Look, asshat—"

"Oh?" One of Kyle's eyebrows quirked up. "You're calling _me_ an _asshat_? Look at you. Or, what you're pretending to be!"

The Roman guy took a deep breath. "I can explain…"

"Let's compromise," Keira said sweetly. "You don't tattle, we don't tattle. Deal?"

"Not good enough," I said, speaking up again. "You've got to swear on the River Styx."

The guy nodded. He looked panicked, and desperately trying not to show it. He swore the oath, and we did, too.

"Now," Kyle said. "Mr. Fake Gladiator, tell us a little about yourself."

Despite the fact that the guy seemed—I don't know, older though Kyle was as tall as him—he said, sounding a wee bit scaredy-cat-ish, "No one else knows. Not even my friends. Only the praetors at Camp Jupiter, sworn to protect me, in return for, well…" The guy's face twisted into an angry mask. With the flashlight, I could see he had dark hair and deathly pale skin. "Well, you know it now to, I guess. Patrolling. Protection, all day, all night."

"What's your name?" Keira piped up.

The guy looked at each of us, a hard expression on his face. Finally, he grunted. "Nico di Angelo."

Beside me, I felt Kyle smile. "Excellent," he said. "Just the guy we were looking for."

* * *

"What do you mean, the guy you were looking for?" the Roman soldier demanded angrily.

We were standing inside of a tent, at Kyle's insistence, which he'd miraculously whipped out. I guess you could say that drive gave you amazing tent-pitching abilities.

"We were sent to look for you," Kyle said calmly.

Nico di Angelo's eyes widened. He'd taken off most of his uniform, of course, and I could see he was surprisingly cute, with black hair and dark eyes. He'd pulled on a leather jacket, too. He looked like a pale, college-age, Italian model. With a lethal look in his eyes. "By whom?" he demanded again. "_By my father?!"_

"Well, yes," Kyle continued as calmly. "By your father."

"I'm not—" Quick as one of the lightning bolts that kept flashing dangerously brightly overhead, he made for the tent flap.

Keira grabbed him. Nico stumbled, then escaped.

Almost.

A vine shot up from the ground, wrapping itself around him. "Uh-uh," I said.

He stared at the vine like it was a snake, squeezing him to death. Well, I guess the vine kind of resembled that. His eyes travelled all over me, to my soaked black hair and wet clothes. "Daughter of Demeter. Huh. You seem niftier with your plant powers than most."

Kyle cleared his throat. "Seeing as how you're now helplessly trapped…"

"Oh, oh, _oh_. You want me to explain myself, punk?" Nico's eyes glowed dangerously bright.

"You're calling _me _punk? I'm not the one wearing a leather jacket. Or eyeliner. Or a beat-up T-shirt that says—"

"YOU ARE NOT TAKING ME TO HADES AND THAT IS FINAL!" Nico shouted.

"Easy," Keira said. She prodded him with her finger. "You know…"

Nico took a deep breath. "I…I _can't _go back to Hades. You _have _to understand—"

"No, we don't. We don't understand _at all_." Kyle shook his head. "Which is why _you're _going to explain."

Nico stopped struggling with the vines—I guessed he'd realized that I'd made sure that the more he resisted, the more tightly the vines wrapped around him. He looked beaten-up. "Look, my dad wants something from me. Which is why I sought refuge at Camp Jupiter. And, like, not much know about it. But it was decided."

"By _whom_?'

"Like I said. Praetors…"

"You know what?" Keira said. "You could've used your demigod powers to stop us."

"Keira!" Kyle cried.

She paid no attention to her twin brother. "So, what's stopping you?"

Nico grimaced. "Look, I can't use my powers, okay? If I do, Hades will know—"

"And he'll find you. Track you down." Kyle nodded. "Of course."

Nico regarded all of us with disgust. "So, you punks gonna just hand me over to dear old dad? You know, I was trying to keep bad things from happening here. What's he giving you in return?"

I tensed. "My grandmother."

"Your grandmother?" Nico guffawed. "Well, let me tell you something." He smiled bitterly. "She's probably dead—"

I heard a buzzing sound in my ears. The vines crept up…to Nico's neck…squeezing tighter and tighter…he was turning blue, and…

"Lily Rose! LILY ROSE!" Kyle commanded. "ENOUGH!"

The vines settled, then wrapped around Nico normally.

"Don't you ever say that again." I took a step towards Nico, who was glaring at me, unruffled. "Don't…"

"Well," Nico murmured. "Did he swear on the River Styx to bring dear old granny back?" He smiled. "Well? Did he?"

I looked at him stonily. Finally, I replied: "No."

Nico smiled again. "Then you'd better make him swear. Trust me, I know my father. He's not honourable. Not at all."

"It doesn't change anything." Kyle looked at Nico. "If you don't mind, you're coming with us."

Nico scowled. "Then I guess I better tell you what Hades wants."

"Wait," I said. "Why?"

Nico fixated on me a look of loathing. "Hades," he said, "wants to rule the world."

I gulped.

"And I," he continued, "know exactly how he shall do it."

"Enough!" Kyle said. "What do you mean…"

"What do I mean? Have you ever heard of Atlantis?"

"Of course," Kyle replied angrily. "And it isn't true."

Nico laughed. "Oh, but all the myths are true. Don't you know?"

"Shut up," Kyle said angrily. "Even if it were true, you wouldn't—"

"Know how to get to it?" Nico smiled that bitter smile again. "But I do."

"How'd you know?" Keira blurted.

Nico glanced at her. "I," he began, "have travelled the world. Searching for answers. My past."

"Right," Kyle said. "Because you were born in the 40s…"

Nico glared. "Well, yes." He paused. "And you know what? Because all they myths are true, and I've searched for answers, I know how to get Hades exactly what he wants."

"That's a load of bull," Kyle growled.

Nico went still. Finally, "If you want," he said, "we can make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Hand me over to Hades," Nico said, "and swear on the River Styx that you won't tell Hades that you know I know what he _wants _to know."

"And?"

"Help me escape," Nico said simply.

Kyle shook his head. "We can't—"

"Oh, we will," I said, shushing Kyle with a look. "We will."

Nico grinned horribly. "Well," he said, "that was easy."

* * *

"I'm still not sure if we should trust him or not," Kyle whispered to me.

Nico was still tied up in vines, courtesy of yours truly, and snoring loudly. We were all huddled up in the tent, getting ready to head back to Hades' realm by dawn.

"We _have _to trust him," I said, "or we'll lose _everything_."

We were all silent for a while. Finally, Keira said, "How're we gonna help him escape?"

"Don't worry," Kyle said, "I have a plan."

My eyebrows shot up. "A plan?"

"Yeah."

"But—" Keira protested.

"Just trust me," Kyle said, "and play along."

Silence once more. And suddenly, I heard Nico di Angelo's dark voice in the darkness of the tent. "It's time."

* * *

The rest of the journey back to Hades' reign was a blur. I remembered Mrs. O' Leary bounding over (Kyle apparently obtained this whistle for her), Kyle, Keira, Mark, and I bounding on her furry black backside. Kyle called out for Nico (again, still wrapped up in tight vines) to join us, but all Nico said, (with a wicked glint in his eye, too, I might add) was, "Nah. Can get there on my own."

Kyle's brow had furrowed. "What?"

"I'm Hades son," Nico said, enunciating slowly, like Kyle was too stupid to understand. I saw a muscle on Kyle's face twitch; it was no surprise that he'd be insulted. "I can get there. On my own. With my powers. And who cares, anyway, if Hades will be tracking me down. You've already taken care of that for him, seeing as how you're dragging me along on your little quest."

"Look, man," Kyle said. "We'll help."

Nico smiled. "I don't trust anyone, Kyle Haven. Yes, I know your name. Your _full_ name," he continued, probably because of the surprised look on Kyle's face—which only lasted for a split second. Kyle was good at hiding his feelings and his weaknesses, I realized. "Because, like I said, I've travelled the world, searching for answers. I know all about you, and your twin. The Haven twins. And your mother."

Beside me, I felt Keira go very still.

"Enough," Kyle growled. "Now let's get going."

Nico laughed, a little to himself. "Ah, you guys," he said. "Trust me, Hades will get the better of you."

"We'll see about that." I folded my arms over my chest.

Nico didn't answer. He grinned, though, and ran straight into a tree.

And vanished into the shadows, leaving us, all on Mrs. O'Leary's back, no choice but to follow him to hell.

* * *

"Back so soon?" the fury Alecto cackled. We'd shadow travelled directly to Hades' realm itself, where the Furies were waiting for us. Looking around, I could see that the Underworld was hotter than ever, with the ground covered in volcanic ash, and the wailing voices of the damned.

I lifted my chin. "Yes," I said, "and we've brought someone that might interest you."

"Oh?" one of the other furies chimed in. "Well, pray tell us, who?"

"Nico di Angelo," I replied, and behind me, I felt him stepping out from the shadows.

The Furies' beady little eyes widened as they saw the son of Hades, possibly the only son of Hades left in this world, step out. They couldn't hide their obvious surprise. One of them hissed and drew back.

"Son of _Lord Hades_," one of the Furies gasped. Then she grinned horribly, her leathery mouth stretching to cover her equally leathery and dry face. "Decided to grace us with your presence after all, is that correct?"

Nico winced and tightened his leather jacket. (Yes, I'd decided to do away with the vines. He wasn't going anywhere, anymore.) "You know, you guys really creep me out."

"All in the span of a few days," Kyle said, who apparently hadn't heard Nico's earlier comment, or maybe just chose to ignore it. "Much less than that tight one-week-only deadline your _Master _arranged for us."

Alecto hissed, and drew back. "Very well. Come, demigods. And that mortal, too, for the love of Hades. Come with us." And the Furies swooped down and grabbed us, leather wings flapping madly.

I looked down. Alecto was carrying me again, which I hated. "You've forgotten Nico," I said.

Nico gave me a very eerie smile at that. "The son of Hades," he said, "can get by the Underworld by himself, thank you very much."

"The boy's right." Alecto hissed into my ear. "Now come along, daughter of Demeter. The master is waiting."

* * *

"Oof!" I said, as Alecto dropped me onto the hard ground. Nearby, I heard Kyle, Keira, and Mark. "Where is Hades?" I stared at the empty throne of bones.

"He's late." I turned around to see Nico. Huh. He'd really managed to get here to the throne room after all. His mouth was curled back into a grim smile. "And instead, we have a fruit tree, courtesy of my lovely stepmother."

"You mean Persephone?" I stared at the fruit tree—which was at the centre of the room—wondering how I could have missed such a beautiful and exquisite plant. The tree was emerald green, all gleaming leaves and a thick, healthy trunk, studded all over with glowing jewel-like berries.

"Don't eat any of the fruit," Kyle warned. "Or you'll have Persephone's fate." He turned to Nico. "No offense."

"None taken," Nico said. "I hate her, and the feeling is mutual."

Before Kyle could work up an answer to that, one of the Furies appeared.

"The _Lord Hades _shall be with you in a while," the hag announced. "Something about a reluctant spirit. Be patient, and no tricks. Or he shall be displeased."

"You know, I kinda liked Alecto better than you," Kyle shot at her sarcastically. "She wasn't as ugly."

Trust Kyle to be the only person who could truly piss one of the Furies off. Alecto's sister's nostrils flared, and she said, in a stilted voice, "Now, that isn't very gentlemanly of you, son of Apollo. You might want to make up for it by trying out one of our gifts of hospitality." She gestured at the plant, its fruits gleaming brightly in the darkness.

"No thank you," Kyle said. "Don't wanna end up spending the night with Hades. After all, he isn't even hot."

The Fury hissed. "Well," she said, "your mortal friend seems to be enjoying it very well."

"What?" I turned to see Mark reaching, as if in a daze, for the fruit. I rushed over to him. "No, Mark! You can't, you understand that?!"

I tried grabbing at his arm, but he swatted me away.

"I've got him," Keira said, using her arm to strap Mark in a headlock and dragging him away. "Stupid mortal."

I bit back a response. Seeing this, the Fury cackled. "Ah, it is not his fault, the mortal," the hag said, "but it is his inner weakness, for he has no ichor flowing through his veins. So he is more likely to succumb to the pressure of the food of the Underworld. Even The Queen of the Shades, Persephone, didn't stand a chance. And she was a goddess!"

"Enough." Kyle glared at the Fury. "You know, I really, _really_ liked Alecto better."

The Fury paid no attention to his comment this time. Instead, she used her leathery, taloned fingers to grab a berry, and with a quick, flicking motion, she squeezed it. Bright juice oozed out. "Isn't it delicious?" she cackled. She quickly grabbed another one and squeezed it again, this time flicking the juice all over Mark. It splattered all over him—his arms and legs. He winced, probably because of the cut, and quickly brought it to his face and sucked at it.

"Hey!" I protested. "STOP THAT!"

"Yes," a voice said from behind us. "Stop that."

We all whirled around. And there, suddenly on his throne, was that godly bastard, Hades.

"You," I said, rushing to him. "_You_. We brought Nico. Now I want my Nana back!"

"Yes, yes," Hades said dismissively. His eyes were already on Nico.

"HEY!" I said. "Swear a Styx oath that if we hand Nico over, you hand my Nana back."

Hades swore the oath calmly. Then he said, "Well, well, well." He grinned at Nico, and to my surprise and horror, I realized they had the same eerie smile. "My prodigal son has returned!"

Nico didn't flinch. "That's from the Bible," he said in a flat voice. "I would've thought an Olympian like you would be above reciting something from that thing."

Hades frowned. "Now, son, is that any way to treat your father? Who, may I remind you, is Lord of the Underworld?"

"A-hem," Kyle said, irritated.

Hades barely glanced at him. "What is it _this time_, foolish demigod?"

"My Nana," I demanded, tapping my foot on the ground impatiently.

Hades looked bored. "Ah, yes. _Whatever_, as you young demigods say." He snapped his fingers then, and Nana materialized in front of me.

I felt my eyes tearing up. "Nana?" I croaked. Because there she was, with the same kind expression and blue eyes that never lost their colour, in one of her flowered dusters, as familiar to me as my name. "Nana!"

Nana rushed forward, looking relieved. "Lily Rose! I was so worried—"

"_You _were worried? _I _was worried!" I cried, rushing forward. We collided and hugged. "Nana. _Nana_." I sniffed.

"While this is all very touching," Hades broke in, sounding bored, "Nico must now come with me."

"Oh, I don't think so," Nico said. He took something from his pocket, something small and button-shaped that glittered like gold.

I frowned at it. "What—"

But Hades had stood up, his thin frame enveloped in horrible robes covered with the faces of ghouls towering over us. "HOW DARE YOU!" He turned to Kyle. "You swore on the Styx!"

Kyle met Hades' fiery gaze evenly. "I swore to give him to you," Kyle said. "But, it seems that he has to leave on his own accord."

"You gave it to him!"

"No, he didn't," Nico smiled cruelly. "I stole it from his pocket. It's a tiny button, shaped like the sun, which his father gave to him."

"Apollo?" Disbelief was written all over Hades' face. "That—"

"It calls the chariot of the Sun god," Kyle explained happily. "Anywhere, any place. Did a favour for dad a year ago. He told me to save it for emergencies. I can only use it thrice. This is the first."

"But—" Hades sputtered. "You—"

I was certain Hades was going to blast us to ash on the spot—but Nico pushed the button, and suddenly, the _whole _Underworld was filled with the rushing sound of what seemed like a million galloping hooves.

A gold light shone throughout hell. I heard the damned screaming at the brightness. A golden chariot, pulled by gleaming gold horses, came rushing in.

"EVERYBODY GET IN!" Kyle shouted.

I grabbed Nana. "Nana, we're gonna have to jump. Be fast." The chariot was rushing closer.

"Oh, I will." Nana nodded.

"One…two…three…jump!" Nana and I bounded, the first ones in.

Next was Nico di Angelo. He hopped in with the grace of a seasoned acrobat.

Then Kyle rushed toward us, Keira hot on his heels. Grabbing each other's hands, they leaped inside.

"Yeah!" I said. "YEAH!"

"In your face, Hades!" Kyle crowed. The chariot was now escalating upwards—to the mortal world once more.

I would've paid a million dollars just to obtain a gif of Hades' face. On it was a look of hatred, anger, fury, and more.

Then suddenly Hades smiled. "YOU'LL BE BACK!" he called out.

And that was when I saw it. Mark.

He kept rushing behind the chariot, trying to jump in. But every time he tried, invisible hands seemed pushing him back.

"MARK!" I cried, trying to jump out. "MARK! NO!"

"Lily Rose!" Kyle and Keira grasped at my arms.

I screamed. "LET ME GO!"

Hades' face was getting farther and farther away, but I could see laughter on it. "Yes…cut on his arm. He sucked at it, but what he forgot was that his arms were already covered with pomegranate juice." Hades guffawed.

"MARK!" There were tears in my eyes. "MARK! NO!"

But the chariot was already escalating upwards, into the world of light, leaving a smug Hades and a desperate Mark with no hope in his face.

"Told you Hades wasn't to be trusted," Nico di Angelo whispered into my ear.


	11. Rescue Mission

**Chapter Eleven**

**_"Rescue Mission"_**

"No. No. _No_," I whispered to myself.

The chariot had taken us to New York—in Central Park, near the gate of Orpheus. It was early dawn, yet New York, being the city that never sleeps, already buzzed with some vehicles and passers-by.

"Dear," Nana enveloped me in her arms. "It's gonna be alright. You can do it, yes you can, go back to the Underworld and save your best friend."

I sniffed. Then turned to Nico. "Did you know?"

"Know what?" He looked on his guard, and annoyed. I resisted the urge to punch him.

"You know," I said. "Now he's captured. By your _father_."

Nico glared. "I didn't know a freaking thing. Didn't do it _on purpose_, if that's what you mean. Look—"

"ENOUGH!" Kyle said. He sighed. "Mortal Boy is in the Underworld. We're getting him back, don't you worry, Lily Rose. We're all in this together. We're part of the quest."

"You know," Nico said. "You just unknowingly quoted High School Musical."

Kyle glared at him. "Shut up."

"Whatever. Later, guys." And he bounded into the shadows.

"Hey!" I cried, but the son of Hades was gone.

Keira kicked at a pebble. "That coward."

"Yep," Kyle agreed. "Just shadow travelled away." He turned to me. "Look, we have to get back to Camp first. I'm calling Argus." He fidgeted in his pocket for his phone.

"Are you kidding me?" I cried. "My best friend is trapped in the Underworld, and all you can say is 'We have to get back to Camp first'." I did a pretty good (in my opinion) imitation of Kyle's voice.

"Lily Rose," Nana said. "You have to report to Chiron."

"That old centaur," I muttered. "Can't even pass correct info. Told me _you _were taken by Titans—"

"Lily Rose," Nana said sternly. "I know it isn't my place to be firm with you, but for the sake of the gods, you're needed back at Camp Half-Blood. And you're going there. You understand?"

I glared at Nana. In the back of my mind, I realized that this was probably the first time I've been mad at Nana in a long time. "And you?" I spat. "How're you gonna get back?"

Argus' Camp van pulled over then.

Nana grinned. "Argus can give me a ride."

* * *

"Welcome back, Lily Rose," Chiron said. "And Kyle and Keira. How'd the quest go?"

Argus had dropped Nana off back at Westchester and brought us back to Camp Half-Blood, where Chiron had subsequently summoned us in his office.

"Not very well," I replied, my tone edged with malice.

Chiron frowned. "Lily Rose—"

"_Did you know?_" I said, struggling to get the words out. Because my life had just shattered into pieces. In the reflection of Chiron's polished wooden table, I caught a glimpse of Kyle and Keira shuffling nervously.

Chiron sat up, looking worried. He was faking it. I knew he was. "Know what?"

I stomped up to him and slammed my palms on the table. "THAT IT WAS HADES. HADES ALL ALONG. AND HE TRICKED US. NOT THE TITANS!"

Chiron's brow furrowed, and he turned pale. "What? Lily Rose—"

"Erm," I heard Keira say. "I'll…just be going."

That coward. She exited the room.

"Sir," Kyle said. I was surprised that he remained. "I think I can explain."

"Well," Chiron said, worriedly, "let's have it, then."

Once Kyle was done explaining, Chiron's brow had furrowed even more. He raked a hand through his unruly hair. Or mane. Whatever.

"Lily Rose," Chiron said, "I'm sorry for your loss—"

"I don't want your pity," I snapped. Behind me, I felt Kyle studying me, his eyes drilling into my back. I pretended not to notice.

Chiron continued. "It's just—well, Lily Rose. This…the very fact that Hades, well, has manipulated you…it means maybe, once more, the Lord of the Underworld is being a bit player once more. Haughty and self-serving, he seems to act, looking out only for his best interests. Maybe he struck a deal with the Titans—a very minor one, without choosing sides. And—"

"JUST SHUT UP," I shouted. I took a deep breath. "Look, I'm going after Mark. He's my best friend. Whether you like it or not. I'll even go alone if I have to—"

"No, Lily Rose."

"YES!" I protested. "You…you can't just expect me to sit here, doing nothing—"

Chiron sighed. "Lily Rose, I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to let you go on a quest on your own. Or on any quest, for that matter. It requires a few days. Also, Olympus is closed, meaning—"

"A Titan attack." Kyle nodded in understanding. "Of course."

Chiron sighed again. "Yes, Kyle. Now you see, Lily Rose, why…"

"I'm going," I said firmly. "Whether you like it or not."

The old centaur shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Lily Rose—"

"Yeah, Lily Rose," Kyle said. "You're supposed to stay." He didn't meet my eyes.

I felt more heat rush to my face. "Stay?" I croaked. "I can't _stay_." I shook my head. "For all I know, Mark is being tortured to death—"

"We will wait and see," Chiron said firmly, then waved his hand to dismiss us.

I stomped out the room in anger.

"Lily Rose!" I heard a voice call out from behind me.

I whirled around. _Kyle?_

He was approaching me with a grin on his face, and I immediately resisted the urge to kill him.

"What do you want?!" I demanded. "You basically told Chiron how much better it is to stay at Camp, and—"

Kyle frowned. "Lily Rose," he said, "that's not what I meant."

"Oh, really now?" I snapped. "Well, that's why you had to go and say—"

"LOOK," Kyle said firmly, raising his voice. "I only said that so that old centaur wouldn't investigate."

My mouth dropped open. "But—"

"We're in this together," Kyle said. "Keira, too. We just had to make it seem like—"

"Like we're not gonna sneak out?" I finished.

He grinned. "Exactly. Now here's our plan."

* * *

"I didn't know the Camp had a library," I said, as we walked into a huge room, filled with books and tables.

Keira had joined us by then. "Well, of course it does."

"Donated by Annabeth Chase," Kyle muttered.

Kyle had told me the plan. It was simple, really. We would stay at the library all day, lying low trying to research on anything that might help us.

Then, at night, with the help of a certain hellhound, we would sneak out of Camp.

I quickly rushed to the nearest shelf. "All about Hades," I whispered gleefully. Then I quickly sobered. "Now let's see what to do about those who ate food from the Underworld." I turned to Kyle. "Do they usually end happily? After, you know, eating hell food?"

Kyle wouldn't meet my eyes. So did Keira. "I don't know," he said, not managing to sound that convincing.

I felt my heart sinking. Again. I tried for a lighter tone. "Thanks, guys, by the way, for helping me. A lot."

"That's what friends are for," Keira muttered, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

"Ah-ha!" Kyle spun around to face his sister. "You actually said something nice. Something _sentimental_. Got you."

Keira rolled her eyes, but her cheeks, which were on fire, gave her away. "Whatever." I hid a smile in the big black volume I was holding.

Suddenly I heard footsteps from behind. The three of us quickly exchanged looks.

The library door opened.

"Oh, hello, guys," a voice—soft and slightly unsure—said. A throat was cleared. "Hey Kyle. Hey Keira. And—"

"Lily Rose," I said. "I'm new."

"I know." The guy at the door fidgeted. "I'm Donald."

Donald turned out to be pale, slightly plump, with a round face framed by red-gold corkscrew curls. His eyes were big, blue, and watery. He seemed to be covered from head to toe with freckles. Plus, he had thick Coke-bottle glasses.

Kyle coughed. "Donald is a son of Athena."

"And he's a nerd?" I whispered back softly.

"Yep," Kyle said, "not to mention he has a total crush on Keira."

Sure enough, Donald had approached Keira, who was busy looking for books that might help us. "Hey Keira," he said.

Keira quickly climbed atop a ladder and started searching the top shelves. "Hi, Donald."

Donald cleared his throat. "So I was thinking—"

"Um," Keira said icily, turning to look at the poor idiot, "I'm busy."

Donald looked crestfallen—but only for a second. "I can help."

Keira smiled her fake smile. Which made her still look like a supermodel, which was unfair. "No thanks. We're good."

"Okay." Donald stood his ground. I admired his persistence.

Keira sighed. "You know, as a matter of fact, I lost my bracelet. It's a gold one, gift from my dad. It's at the bottom of the canoe lake. The naiads wouldn't give it back." She flashed a grin at Donald. "Think you can get it back?"

Donald jumped excitedly. "Absolutely," he said, turning to leave. He opened the library door and let himself out.

Once he was gone, Keira exhaled. "Whew."

"Yeah," Kyle agreed.

I turned to face Keira. "Did you really lose your bracelet?"

"Nope." Keira grabbed two thick volumes. From here I could see the titles: _A Beginner's Guide to Greek Mythology _and _Hades: God of the Underworld_. "And it doesn't matter, as long as he doesn't bother me again."

"He's actually harmless," Kyle told me. "But—"

"Irritating?" I suggested. "Stupid?"

"Not in the academic sense, no. But yes."

I grinned.

"Focus," Keira demanded. "We have a long way to go."

Hours later, I gave up. "I can't find anything!" I said, frustrated. I had checked _The Story of Persephone_, _The Big Three, _an encyclopaedia-like volume called _All About The God of Death _filled with detailed descriptions about Hades, and a long, sprawling book called _Underworld_. I bang my head on the table. "It's hopeless."

_Mark. Mark. I'm so sorry, Mark_. How was I supposed to rescue him, now?

"Me neither," Kyle muttered. He was slumped in his seat. "None of this ends happily."

Keira opened her mouth to say something, but then the library doors opened. We braced ourselves, until I saw that it was Donald who rushed in.

His curly hair was wet and smashed to one side, and his thick glasses were askew. From afar, even I could see that it had a cracked lens. His skin was blotchy red and sunburned. His Camp Half-Blood shirt was ripped into shreds, and his stomach was covered by nail scratches. Soaking wet, he dripped onto the pristine library floor.

"Chiron," he wheezed, "told me to get you…for lunch…and Keira…I'm still looking for your bracelet…I cut _pegasi _riding class, but whatever…anything for you…"

Keira's smile was strained. "Sure, Donald. Really appreciate it."

Satisfied, Donald turned and left.

I turned to Keira. "You're leading him on, you know that?" I scolded.

She shrugged. "Hey, it's either that or he stalks us. And you want to rescue Mark, don't you?"

I sighed and shut my mouth. We made our way to the mess hall.

* * *

"Oh, my gods!" Christie squealed when she saw me. She rushed over to give me a hug. "I was so worried that you were dead, and that you got hurt in the quest." I could see the real concern in her eyes.

I hugged her back. "I'm fine," I replied, trying not to grimace. Wow, for someone so petite and pixie-like, Christie sure has a tight hug. Well, it's the thought that counts.

Christie seemed to sense my mood, because she stepped back and frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

I dropped my voice. "Shhh. Not here." I grabbed a plate and, like the other campers, began to pile it with pepperoni pizza and spaghetti. I read somewhere that stress either makes you eat more or eat less, and I must be one of those who eats more. I reached out for a tray and put my plate on it. I snatched a packet of French fries, a platter of chicken nuggets, and a slice of chocolate cake. I then added a small bowl of salad for good measure.

Christie, being a vegetarian and all, wrinkled her nose at my meat-filled meal. On her own tray was salad and a tiny piece of vegetarian lasagne. Her only dessert was a lone chocolate chip cookie. But she put up with my charade. "Okay," she whispered.

"If it isn't the newbie." Suddenly, Ivy was there, blocking the way to the brazier. Her hair was a darker shade of strawberry-blond now, but her snake-green eyes were as cold and calculating as ever. "I was starting to hope that you died on your little quest."

"Leave us alone, Ivy," I said, gritting my teeth.

"Oh, I'd rather not," Ivy drawled. "Because what are you going to do to me, anyway? You can't use your powers anymore." She took a step forward, hand on her hip.

I casually sidestepped her and scraped some of my food into the brazier. _Dear Mom, Demeter, whatever you want to be called, _I think, _please guide me on my quest. And let me get Mark back_.

When I turned back to Ivy, my voice was calm. She scowls, like she doesn't understand. I realized that she had been waiting for my answer to her taunt.

Well, she's not getting one.

"You know," I said, "you're pathetic." Ivy gasped and stepped back, but I continued, anyway. "Being on this quest matured me. I'm not gonna be pathetic and sink down to your level by acting like you."

Ivy's eyes widened. Behind me, I heard the rest of the Demeter cabin watching us in bated breath.

Meanwhile, Ivy's face had twisted into a horrifying glare. "You're just scared. Right, Ursul?" Ivy's eyes sought around for her 'friend'. But Ursula was at the other end of the mess hall, flirting with some guy from the Ares cabin.

I turned back to Ivy. "No, I'm not scared," I say firmly, and as calm as ever. "I'm just a girl who know her own mind."

* * *

"That was amazing!" Christie whispered to me once we were at the Demeter table. "You should've seen Ivy's face! Also, all the others saw it. That bitch is going _down!_" She lifted her hand for a high-five. I returned it only half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?" Christie asked. "I really mean what I said, you know. You should try for counsellor."

I took a deep breath. "It's…not that. But thanks, anyway. Though I don't think I can be counsellor, because…" I looked around, searching for a listening ear. But no one was taking notice of us.

I take a deep breath and relayed the plans to Christie.

Her eyes bulged. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not."

"You're really gonna sneak out?" Christie said worriedly. "You'll—"

"Kyle said it would work," I said. "Just…you can keep a secret, right?"

Christie nodded. "I swear on the Styx that I won't breathe a word you said to anyone."

"Good. Thanks." I sighed and relaxed.

"But…" Christie stabbed her fork into a piece of lettuce. "That doesn't mean I can't talk you out of it."

"What?!"

"Lily Rose, it's dangerous," Christie whispered. "You could _die_."

I shot her a sarcastic look. "Yeah, as if I hadn't weighed in _that _option yet."

"I'm not kidding." Christie shook her head. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

We were suddenly very quiet. "I know," I said. "I don't want to lose mine, too."

Even though she meant me and I meant Mark.

Christie sighed. "There's no use trying to stop you, is there?"

"Nope."

"Then good luck," Christie said resignedly, "for tonight. _Chalázi kai antho_. Hail and farewell."

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. We had _pegasi _riding lessons. Some lesson with Mr. Kostas. I was too worried to pay any attention.

Screw that. I wasn't worried. I was full-on _terrified and paranoid_.

Because what if Mark was dead? Nothing we'd searched for in the library said anything like, "Oh, by the way, if your best friend ate a pomegranate from Hades' garden, this is how you can get him back." _Nothing _at all.

I was beginning to lose hope.

Mark. My best friend. I couldn't imagine my life without him.

"What if Hades won't hand him back?" I asked Kyle.

Kyle looked plenty worried, too. "He will. He _has _to. He wants something from us, and he's using Mark to get it."

At that, my chest bubbled up with the unfairness of it all. "What if we can't do what he asks?"

Kyle didn't answer that.

It didn't help that midway through the afternoon Chiron, that centaur, summoned me to his office.

We were in the middle of Mr. Kostas' class. Well, the others were. My mind was wandering somewhere else.

Mr. Kostas paused mid-lecture to answer the knock on the door. He spoke awhile with a guy then turned to me. "Lily Rose," he said.

I was busy doodling onto my notebook. It was supposed to be a bunch of stuff about Mark, but looking back, I was so panicky that it could've just been meaningless scribbles.

I didn't even hear Mr. Kostas at first. He had to clear his throat and say my name two more times before I finally snapped to full-on attention.

"Lily Rose," he said, all disappointedly, "Chiron would like to see you in his office."

I felt Kyle and Keira tense up. Christie gasped. Nearby, Ivy snickered. "Looks like newbie's in _trouble_," she muttered gleefully.

I stood up. _He's found out._

But how could he have found out? I told no one. Christie swore the oath, too. And I doubt she'd tell on me.

As I got up, I felt all eyes on me. The squeaky creak from my chair seemed to echo across the whole camp. "Yes, sir," I said numbly as I exited the room and made my way to Chiron's office.

I only had to knock once on his door. "Come in!" he called out.

I braced myself and opened the door. _Be brave. Be brave. The worst he can do to you is make you put on fire-resistant gloves and wash the dishes after dinner. _

Or was it?

"You wanted to see me, sir?" I said, hoping not to sound _too _guilty.

He nodded. His face was unreadable. "Ah, yes. Please, sit."

I sat on the chair. It was as hard as a cement wall.

"Lily Rose," Chiron said. He grasped the table—he was in his wheelchair again—and pulled himself nearer. "Well, well, well."

I took a deep breath.

He continued. "I wasn't expecting this."

I opened my mouth. "Chiron, I—"

Suddenly he smiled. "I must say, I'm impressed."

_Huh?_

"I…" My voice faltered. "Sir, _what?!_"

His grin grew wider. "Well, you _do _know Seraphina , right?"

"Erm, no."

"From the Aphrodite cabin," Chiron said. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, well, she likes to talk. A lot."

"Uh huh," I said numbly. I still wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

"And," Chiron clasped his hands together. "She told me about how Ivy taunted you. And how you refused to put up with a fight."

_WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?! _I thought. "Well, yes!"

Chiron smiled. "Lily Rose," he said, "I am proud of you."

"What? Sir, I don't understand—"

He cut me off easily. "I'm glad you refused to give in to your temper and conduct yourself in a mature manner."

"Er, thank you?"

"I can also see," he continued, "that you've kept your promise not to show any one else your power in Camp."

"Oh," I said. Then I fake a smile. "Well, yes, sir! Thanks!"

_He hasn't found out!_

"As a reward, I am reconsidering the quest for you to rescue Mark," he said. "I will do what is it in my power to let you go on your quest. Though, I might warn you—" He shook his head. "I am not really sure _when_, though. A week at least. But, Lily Rose, I _am _impressed."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, sir!" I said overeagerly. Though inside, I felt guilty. Here he was, praising me, and I was gonna sneak out from under his nose.

"Well, Lily Rose," Chiron said. "That is all. You may go."

He looked pleased. "Thank you, sir," I said again. _And I'm sorry for what I'm about to do_.

But there was no turning back now.

* * *

Later that night, at around 10:30, I got up and checked the others at my cabin. All asleep. I grabbed my satchel, which Christie had packed for me, on account of the fact that I was too nervous to do it myself. I slipped out as quietly as possible and headed to the Apollo cabin.

At night, Camp was still beautiful. There was something about the silence and the way the stars twinkled over the lush grounds that was comforting, and…

_Enough. _I needed to focus. I tiptoed over to the Apollo cabin. Kyle and Keira were already outside.

"Come on," Keira whispered, and we made our way to a secluded clearing in the forest.

I take back what I said about Camp being beautiful. The trees looked forbidding in the darkness, like gnarled arms trying to grab us.

"_Psst!_"

We froze in our tracks.

"It's me, sillies," I heard a voice whisper.

I turned to Kyle and Keira, who had brought their flashlights out.

Kyle took a step forward. "Clover? Is that you?"

I heard a little high-pitched giggle. "Yup, it's me. What are you guys doing?"

Now I could see Clover. She was standing in front of a tree, practically camouflaged. She must be a dryad—she had soft blond curls, green eyes, and pale skin.

"None of your business," Keira muttered darkly.

Kyle shot Keira a look. "Look, Clover, we're going on a quest—"

"You are?" Clover looked awed. "How're you gonna get there?"

"Look, you have to promise not to tell anyone—"

"I won't. There's just one problem."

I gasped.

"What?" Kyle asked suspiciously.

"I've got an empathy link with a demigod."

My mouth dropped open. "I thought—"

"That only satyrs could have them? Any nature spirit can, Lily Rose," Clover said.

I didn't bother asking how she knew my name.

"Well," Keira said, "who'd you get an empathy link with?"

Clover pouted. "I didn't want an empathy link with _her_. She made me do it. She choked my tree."

"Oh, Clover—"

"Yeah. I finally gave in. It's just a temporary empathy link, though—we dryads aren't really into those kinds of stuff."

"So, who's the lucky demigod?" I asked.

Clover shrugged. "That mean girl from your cabin. Ivy Mercer."

"WHAT?!" I cried. "This…" I shook my head angrily. "Ugh! I bet she wanted to keep tabs on us and get us in trouble!"

"Exactly. Now we have to go." Kyle began rushing forward. "Thanks for the heads-up, Clover. Now we know what to expect. Bye!" He took off, Keira and I hot on his heels.

"Faster," Keira said, "they'll be after us—"

Suddenly I heard pounding footsteps from behind. I gasped and picked up my speed.

Keira cursed. "That bitch! I bet she already alerted the harpies!"

Kyle blew his whistle. And from the darkness, Mrs. O'Leary appeared.

"Hey, girl," he said quickly. "Underworld. Again. Okay?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked happily, and we threw ourselves on her back.

The footsteps grew louder and louder. Suddenly, the harpies emerged.

"Food!" one of them croaked happily. She was rail-thin and looked part-chicken.

The harpies were advancing now, surrounding us.

"Now!" Kyle said, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded for the wall.

Just before we hit it, though, one of the harpies threw itself on us, and dragged a screaming Keira away.

"NO!" Kyle and I shouted, but it was too late. We had already bounded into darkness.


	12. Cursed

**Chapter Twelve**

**_"Cursed"_**

_Keira was gone_.

What was it the prophecy had said?

_By then, beware, for you'll only be two/With another provision to rescue._

Well, it came true. Here we were, Kyle and I. Just the two of us, with Keira gone, on the probably suicidal quest to save Mark.

_Oh, Mark_, I thought fervently, _I'm so sorry for dragging you into this and not stopping you from coming. Now you'll be trapped in the Underworld forever, and it'll all be my fault._

"You okay?" Kyle said from behind me.

I shook my head, being honest. "No. But…but I will be."

Kyle was silent. Then I felt his arms around me.

This gesture took me by surprise—I didn't think affection was Kyle's strong point, but I accepted it anyway. "Thanks," I said, feeling my cheeks heating up. Luckily, with shadow travelling, it was so dark that you couldn't tell anyway.

I sensed him nodding. "We're in this together, Lily Rose. To save…the mortal."

I sniffed. "His name is Mark."

"Whatever." He waved his hand in dismissal.

I turned to face him (well, at least partially—you couldn't really move around on the back of a gigantic black dog like Mrs. O'Leary while shadow travelling) and said, "Why are you helping me?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Because we're friends, Lily Rose."

_Friends. _The word sounded alien to me. Mark had been my only friend for the greater part of my life, back when we were still toddlers and his first words to me were, "Nice lunchbox."

"Well, thanks."

Kyle shifted. "No problem."

And that was when _everything _stopped.

Mrs. O'Leary stopped, mid-pounce, suspended in the shadows of the darkness. Kyle stopped, too—it felt like he'd stiffened right next to me.

I began to panic. "Kyle?"

He didn't reply. His luminous golden eyes were fixed straight ahead. He could've been a statue or something.

I slapped him, hard. "Ow!" I might as well have hit a solid wall. I rubbed at my hands.

It was like the world had froze, leaving me the only person being able to move.

_Think, Lily Rose. Who could have done this?_

Kronos. The Lord of Time. He'd be able to do it, right?

"Oh no," I whispered. I tried looking around, but it was useless. The shadows seemed to be advancing upon me, and a strange coldness had washed over my body. I shivered.

Suddenly, a voice came from right behind me. "Hello, dear."

My eyes widened. Without turning around, I managed to gulp out, "Who—who are you?"

The voice was firm yet gentle—it was also, I noted, a woman's voice. "Why don't you turn around and see for yourself, dear." With each word, the voice was becoming more and more familiar—like I'd heard it before. A feeling of déjà vu settled over me, which totally wasn't helping in my case.

Slowly I twisted my body to the direction of the voice. I didn't see anything at first, but then as my eyes got used to the shadows surrounding us, I saw—a silhouette. Of a woman.

Her hair was dark, and braided over her shoulder. Her eyes glowed a beautiful green in the darkness—a shade of green that was much like mine. I couldn't really see it, but I bet she was wearing a traditional and elegant Greek chiton.

The woman smiled, glowing with power. "Hello, Lily Rose," she said softly.

My heart stopped. I swallowed. "Demeter."

"_Mother_," she corrected, "but, oh well." She sighed. "Call me Lady Demeter, if you wish."

Conflicting emotions began to shift inside of me. "Lady Demeter, I…" I gulped. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you—"

She held up a hand to silence me, probably because she had correctly guessed that I was about to start a full-blown rant. "Enough," she said firmly, her voice radiating with power.

I shut my mouth, not wanting to risk getting blasted into ashes or turned into a tree by my godly mother.

She took a deep breath, and began. "Daughter," she said, in a commanding manner. "I wish this day wouldn't have come."

Before I could bite off my tongue, I snarkily replied, "Yeah. Yeah, me too."

She shot me a somewhat exasperated look, which got me only madder. Wasn't she the cause of all this? Couldn't she have controlled her impulses and not have any more demigod children?

Demeter sighed. "I understand now that you have found out about the prophecy. I instructed Chiron to keep it secret, lest it might cause panic among the mortals and the other gods. But, I must warn you."

My voice was bitter. "I already know about my dangerous plant powers, thank you very much."

Demeter shook her head. "No, Lily Rose. It is not what you think. You—you are…_cursed_."

I remembered what Chiron had told me about a curse. I swallowed. "No. _No. _You can't mean—"

"Your beautiful plant powers." Demeter shook her head. "They will, I'm afraid, only bring you strife."

I flinched. "This is all your fault," I growled. "Keeping the prophecy a secret. Where were you when I needed anything, huh, Demeter? Where were—"

"_ENOUGH!_" the goddess cried, her voice trembling with anger and power. "You will not speak to me in such a manner! I kept it, because, well…do you know what would happen if the other gods would find out? They'd have you killed! I was only _protecting _you!"

This took me by surprise. Then I frowned. "Not just that," I said softly. "You were protecting yourself, too!"

Demeter glared at me, her green eyes bulging. "How dare you."

"Yes, I dare!" I hopped off Mrs. O'Leary's back. "I dare! What would the other Olympians think of you, _Demeter's daughter_…you could have just stopped having children! Is it a game to you, make the mortal fall in love with you?"

Demeter's face was as hard as stone. "I will not stand here anymore and take such behaviour from you. My _own daughter_," she spat. "Instead, I'll do you a favour and tell you about the curse." She smiled at my reaction. "Yes. You are cursed."

"Just get it over with!" I shouted. "Cursed with…what?"

Demeter sneered. "The plant in you will corrupt you," she said simply. "That is all."

I stared at her. "_What?!_"

"The plant in you will corrupt you," Demeter said. "Your skin shall turn green. Your lips, a poison. You can literally kill with a kiss." She shrugged. "Don't worry, you'll be able to control it. But it _is _a curse. And it will reveal itself when you least want it to."

I was shaking with fear. "No. _No! _That's…that's not possible!"

"Oh, but it is," Demeter said.

I shook my head. "This is all your fault."

"_MY FAULT?!" _Demeter roared.

"You could've just, I don't know, swore an oath not to have children anymore. Like I said earlier!"

Demeter shook her head. "Such ingratitude," she mused, "when for a fact _I _was the one to rescue that little mortal friend of yours."

I froze. "Mark?"

"Was that his name? All mortal names sound the same to me," Demeter said airily, waving her hand in dismissal. "But yes, I did rescue him."

My mouth dropped open. "You did? But…how? You couldn't even rescue your own daughter…no offense."

Demeter sniffed. "Well, Hades owed me. It was nothing."

I bowed my head in shame. "Thank you."

"Well," Demeter drawled, sounding exactly like Ivy then, "there is one problem."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "What?"

"Your mortal friend," Demeter continued, "is in a deep sleep."

My blood ran cold. "A coma? Is that what you're saying?"

Demeter shrugged. "I suppose," she said, sounding bored.

My mouth dropped open. "How could you?"

She waved her hand in dismissal. "I don't see how it matters. Mortal lives burn the brightest, for they are the easiest to go out. In short, you will all die sooner or later. Your lives are short; what difference does this make?"

I began seeing red. "What difference does this make? I'll tell you what. Mark's my best friend. MY BEST FRIEND. And if you think I'm gonna be okay with the fact that _he's in a coma and might never ever wake up, _you're in for a surprise, bitch."

The goddess wrinkled her nose. "Such offensive language! You should be thanking the Fates than I am in such a good mood, dear, lest I choke you to death with vines—"

I raised my hand and green snake-like plants wrapped around Demeter like a vice. She began to choke.

"Some plant goddess, are you?" I said, smiling, twisting my hand slowly to the right. The vines obeyed and squeezed her tighter. "Can't even stop me."

"Ah—ah." Demeter's gulping noises filled the dark area. "Cu—cursed."

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, and the vines tightened around here even more.

"That's enough," a voice said from behind me.

I froze, and the vines released Demeter, who fell to the ground in a heap, exhausted.

I slowly turned around. Great. Another encounter. I was about to say something snarky when I saw the woman.

She was a breathtakingly beautiful goddess who stood several feet taller than me with long, wavy brown tresses partly pulled back, emphasizing the high cheekbones of her elegant face. Her eyes were gold—not like Kyle's eyes, but like there was a fire burning behind it. She wore a many-layered white chiton and carried a glowing gold cornucopia which flickered brightly.

Taken aback, I asked, "Who—who are you?"

The goddess regarded me firmly yet serenely. "I am Eirene, daughter of Zeus and Themis, goddess of peace. And please, stop."

I waved my hand at Demter's crumpled heap. "Already did."

Eirene nodded. "Lily Rose Waldorf, I presume?" she inquired in a soothing voice.

"Er," I replied, "yes."

She smiled. It was a small smile that seemed to melt me. "I think you are aware of the prophecy?"

"Yes, I am."

Her smile now turned rueful. "I apologize for it."

"Erm, okay." Then I snapped back to attention. "What are you doing here? No offense," I added quickly.

Still smiling ruefully, she said, in a soft voice, "I have been sent here to warn you."

"Warn me?" I asked incredulously. "Warn me of what? All I've heard are warnings today."

She shook her head sadly, and pressed her cornucopia to her breast, as if what she were about to say pained her. "Warn you of the curse, and give you advice."

"Who sent you?"

"I am afraid I cannot say," she said, her gold eyes shining with sincerity. "You see, your curse—well, it hasn't yet spread throughout your body. But, and trust me on this, it will get easier to control, as time goes by."

My heart sank. "Oh."

"Yes. Oh." The goddess sounded sympathetic. "And, as for the advice—well, do not lose hope." She paused. "Your friend will get better with time, just as how your curse will get better with time."

"But…" I shook my head. "It's just not fair!"

"Patience, Lily Rose. And Hope." She smiled. "Remember to hope."

She turned to Demeter, then, and with a wave of her hand the goddess disappeared.

"She has been returned to Olympus, with her memory somewhat wiped," she explained. "That way, there can be peace."

I began to tremble. "Do you…do you always help demigods?"

Eirene bowed her head. "No. Not always."

"What makes me so different?"

Eirene looked up, then smiled. "Not different. Special. You are chosen for the prophecy. You are accursed. The power to control plantlife, even better than Demeter."

"So you're saying you pity me." My voice was hard.

"Not pity," the goddess said. "I want to give you a chance. Besides, Lily Rose, I am the goddess of peace. I have to maintain peace, and—"

Fury rose through me. "And if you don't maintain it by helping me, you're only source of power would be gone. Is that what happened to you during the last war five years ago? The one Percy Jackson and others fought? _Were you reduced to a semi-transparent state, threatening to fade away?!"_

For the first time a somewhat angry emotion crept onto Eirene's serene façade. "I do not—"

I folded my hands over my chest. "You're just as self-serving as all the other Olympians!" I screamed bitterly.

Eirene took a deep breath. "I know this is hard to take in." She paused. "Lily Rose, it is in my nature to keep peace, and…"

"Shut up." I covered my ears.

"_Listen, Lily Rose_," she whispered hoarsely. She began to fade. "_My time is running out. Take this," _she said, and the golden cornucopia that was probably a symbol of her power flew across the room at me. "_You are cursed. But you are special. The cornucopia will help you tell when you are cursed, and what to do, and—" _She began to fade even more. "_My time is up. Good luck, Lily Rose Waldorf. I apologize for not being clear—"_

And she was gone.


End file.
